‘No one should be excluded’: Australia’s Tina Rahimi hits out at Olympic hijab ban

Australian boxer Tina Rahimi has hit out at France’s hijab ban, which prevents French athletes participating in certain sports at the Olympics from wearing religious head scarfs.

“Women have the right to choose how they want to dress,” Rahimi, who took part in the Paris 2024 opening ceremony on Friday, wrote in a post 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.”

Related: French athlete may swap hijab for a cap to avoid Olympic opening ceremony ban

Rahimi is the first female Muslim boxer to represent Australia at the Olympics. The 28-year-old, from Bankstown in south-west Sydney, wears long sleeves and a hijab under a protective headgear in competition.

“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.”

France’s hijab ban only applies to French athletes competing at the Games – it does not apply to visiting competitors. The ban applies to sports including football, basketball, volleyball and boxing, and covers all levels of competition, including amateur events.

“No matter how you look or dress, what your ethnicity is or what religion you follow,” Rahimi said 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.”

In June, a coalition of groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International wrote to the International Olympic Committee condemning the ban and urging IOC intervention.

“The bans imposed by the French sports authorities are discriminatory and prevent Muslim athletes who decide to wear the hijab from exercising their human right to play sport without discrimination of any kind,” the letter said. “The bans also fly in the face of the human rights requirements for host countries and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights, as well as being antithetical to the fundamental principles of Olympism.”

Ahead of the opening ceremony, French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla was at risk of not participating due to her headscarf; at the last minute, a compromise was reached whereby Sylla covered her hair with a cap, allowing her to join the ceremony.

France has a long history of seeking to regulate or ban the wearing of religious items, politically justified in the name of laïcité (secularism).

Rahimi will make her Olympic debut on Friday in the women’s featherweight division. She won bronze for Australia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and is the reigning Pacific Games champion.