French students’ association calls sports hijab ban ‘racist’

The Muslim Students of France (EMF) criticised a proposed law aiming to ban Islamic headscarves (hijabs) in sports competitions as “racist, Islamophobic and sexist,” Anadolu reported.

In a post on X yesterday, the student organisation said that the proposed law is exclusionary and restricts Muslims’ access to public spaces.

It argued that the law is based on a discriminatory approach to sports and seeks to justify public discourse that fuels suspicion towards Muslims.

“Under the guise of defending citizenship and public order, it actually creates sub-citizens,” the association said on X.

EMF also accused the proposal of fabricating a “public problem” concerning Islam and Muslims based on vague and marginal claims.

It warned that such measures undermine the principle of equality and, in practice, create second-class citizens.

The organisation further condemned what it described as the political scrutiny of Muslim women’s bodies.

Islamophobia in France: MEMO in conversation with Rayan Freschi

The statement referred to France’s 2004 hijab ban and the 2023 ban on the abayas in secondary and primary schools, stating that sports have now become an arena for discrimination.

The association stressed that the proposed law is part of a broader surveillance policy targeting Muslims and called for urgent action to oppose it.

On Tuesday, the French Senate advanced a bill aiming to ban the hijab in sports competitions.

The bill is set to be discussed later in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.

Condemning the measure, Amnesty International said yesterday: “This ban is discriminatory and violates human rights. All women have the right to choose what to wear.”

“The sports hijab bans in France are yet another measure underpinned by Islamophobia and a patriarchal attempt to control what Muslim women wear.”

This ban is discriminatory and violates human rights. All women have the right to choose what to wear.

The sports hijab bans in France are yet another measure underpinned by Islamophobia and a patriarchal attempt to control what Muslim women wear.

Following the vote in the… pic.twitter.com/kc8X0pVtDu

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) February 19, 2025

This is not the first such measure in France. Several previous decisions have been criticised by Muslims in the country as efforts to marginalise them.

In August 2023, Education Minister Gabriel Attal banned the abaya in schools, claiming it was an Islamic garment that violates state rules and regulations.

This decision was part of a series of bans introduced since 2004, when France enacted a law prohibiting the wearing of religious symbols in public schools.

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