BERLIN: Athletes can wear a hijab in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games athletes’ village without any restriction, the International Olympic Committee said, days after France’s sports minister banned it for the host country’s athletes.
The Olympic body also said it needed to better understand the situation in France and had been in contact with the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF).
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said French athletes would be barred from wearing a hijab during the Paris Games to respect principles of secularism.
“For the Olympic Village, the IOC rules apply,” an IOC spokesperson said. “There are no restrictions on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural attire.”
The vast majority of the approximately 10,000 athletes at Olympic Games reside in apartments in the Olympic village and share common spaces, including dining halls and recreational areas.
“When it comes to competitions, the regulations set by the relevant International Federation (IF) apply,” the IOC spokesperson said
“Since this French regulation relates to the members of the French team only, we are in contact with the CNOSF to further understand the situation regarding the French athletes,” the spokesperson said.
Home to one of Europe’s largest Muslim minorities, France has implemented laws designed to protect its strict form of secularism known as “laicité”.
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A United Nations body has criticized France’s ban on its athletes wearing the hijab at next year’s summer Olympics.
Asked about the decision to ban French athletes from wearing the hijab at the Paris event, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office said, “no one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear.”
“According to international human right standards, restrictions of expressions of religions or beliefs such as attire choices are only acceptable under really specific circumstances that address legitimate concerns for public safety, public order or public health or morals in a necessary and proportionate fashion,” said Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the office.
Paris will host the Summer Olympics from July 26 to August 11 next year. The sports competitions at the Olympics are organized and overseen by individual international sports federations. There are 32 sports on the programme of the Paris Games.
