Olympic Games: Aussie Muslim boxer takes another swipe at France for enforcing hijab ban in Paris

Australian Muslim boxer Tina Rahimi has once again torched France for its refusal to allow the nation’s athletes to wear the hijab during the Paris Olympics.

Rahimi, 28, is one of 12 Aussie fighters to qualify for Paris, with Australia sending its largest-ever boxing team to the Games.

Rahimi, from Bankstown in western Sydney, wears a full hijab during her bouts and won bronze in the featherweight division at the Commonwealth Games last year.

France announced in April that it would ban its athletes from wearing the hijab, with. French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera saying the decision was made to uphold the principle of secularism.

The host nation has come under significant criticism, both within France and from international rights groups – with Rahimi also adding her voice to the outcry in the build up to the Games.

And now, ahead of her bout on Friday, Rahimi has once again hit out at France. 

‘Women have the right to choose how they want to dress,’ she posted on Instagram. ‘With or without hijab. I choose to wear the hijab as a part of my religion and I am proud to do so.

‘You shouldn’t have to choose between your beliefs/religion or your sport,’ added Rahimi. ‘This is what the French athletes are forced to do.

‘No matter how you look or dress, what your ethnicity is or what religion you follow,’ Rahimi added in her post. 

‘We all come together to achieve that one dream. To compete and to win. No one should be excluded. Discrimination is not welcome in sport, specifically in the Olympics and what it stands for.’ 

Her post echoes previous comments she has made about the French position. 

‘This has got to do with the laws in France,’ Rahimi said in an older social media post. 

‘Thankfully I’m still able to participate in my hijab, which I’m so grateful for. 

‘But it’s so unfortunate for the athletes in France because it has nothing to do with their performance. It should not get in the way of you being an athlete.

‘It’s so hard for you to be an Olympic athlete and to think that you have to give away your faith to participate in these events. I believe everyone should be equal.

‘How is my hijab going to affect anything? People grow up wanting to go to the Olympics and it’s all that they work towards, and all that they want to achieve. That would be taking away someone’s dream.

‘I stand by all the French girls…. It’s really, really unfortunate.’

France is the only country in Europe that prevents hijab-wearing women from participating in most domestic sports competitions. 

Rights groups have said that the policy contravenes not only the IOC’s own guidelines, but also international treaty obligations that France is required to uphold.

The French Council of State upheld a prohibition on female footballers wearing the hijab during games in June 2023 after the ban had been imposed by the French Football Federation.

Rights groups have long voiced concern about the consequences of blocking headscarf-wearing women from participating in sports.

Amnesty International said such bans have resulted in negative mental and physical consequences for women and caused ‘humilitation, trauma and fear’.

Rahimi says the decision is unfortunate and is striking a blow against people’s Olympic dreams

The French approach to the Olympics has also drawn the attention of the United Nations.

While the UN did not directly address the ban, the UN Rights Office’s spokeswoman in Geneva said in a veiled rebuke after the policy was announced that ‘no-one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear or not to wear’.

She also pointed out that ‘discriminatory practices against a group can have harmful consequences’ and added: ‘Restrictions on expressions of religions or beliefs, such as attire choices, are only acceptable under really specific circumstances’