Cilla Sunkamba already wore a hat during the European Athletics Championships in Rome in June 2024. – ©Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
French relay runner Sunkamba Sylla said on Wednesday, July 24, that she can finally participate in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday, July 26, wearing a hat.
“We finally reached an agreement so that I can attend the opening ceremony The Olympic Games Sounkamba Sylla announced on his Instagram page on Wednesday July 24. The French torchbearer regretted that he could not go four days ago, “because you wear a scarf on your head”.
“He was asked to wear a hat during the parade, which he accepted,” detailed the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), a compromise reached after discussions between the athlete, the French Sports Federation (FFA) and the Ministry of Sport and Bermuti, who prepares the outfits.
Minister of Sports on this subject Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said on Wednesday of his “wish that Sunkamba Sylla could participate in this opening ceremony”, respecting the “principle of neutrality” to which the athlete is subject. According to the principle of secularism, public sector agents should not display their beliefs at all, whether religious, philosophical or political.
“During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, members of the French national team are prohibited from wearing signs or clothing of a religious nature, in accordance with the principle of neutrality,” the sports ministry said in a June 2024 note.
“Discriminatory” prohibition
The ban, which applies only to French women and not athletes from other delegations, is actually aimed at Muslim women who wear the veil. Among the French delegation, only Sunkamba Sylla is worried.
On social networks, some athletes of the French national team expressed their support for the 26-year-old athlete, who remained reserved on the subject. “It’s unfortunate French athletes because (wearing a veil) has nothing to do with performance and should have nothing to do with being an athlete,” Australian boxer Tina Rahimi lamented in an Instagram video, saying she was “grateful to compete with (her) with. ) hijab”.
For Amnesty International, such a ban on wearing a veil is also “discriminatory”. “Although these games are being presented as the first to demonstrate ‘strict equality between women and men’, the French authorities have made it clear that their efforts (…) do not apply to (…) Muslim women and girls who wear are religious head coverings”. condemned the organization in a report published in mid-July.
Precedent in June 2024
“We want to be strong in respecting these principles (of secularism), but at the same time we want to be charitable, as constructive as possible and resourceful in terms of solutions to make everyone feel good,” advocates Amelie Udea. Castera Wednesday.
It is not the first time the question has arisen for Sylla, who ran in a scarf at the 2023 Worlds but was forced to abandon it at the European Athletics Championships in Rome in June.
Ahead of the competition in Italy, Amelie Udea-Castera recalled the athletes’ “demand for neutrality” and asked the FFA to enforce the rule. After consulting with the relevant director, the FFA made him a cap that could hide his hair without blowing away at the slightest acceleration.
The French Ministry of Sports notes in its note that the principle of neutrality applies to all training, competitions, ceremonies and other official events, but not necessarily in the Olympic Village.