France’s right-wing-controlled Senate has approved a proposed law that would ban religious symbols, including the hijab, in all professional and amateur sports competitions.
This move has sparked a backlash from left-wing politicians and human rights advocates, who have sentenced it as discriminatory.
The bill is yet to be passed into law, as it requires approval from the National Assembly, but it has already gained strong backing from the right-leaning government.
Supporters of the ban argue that the headscarf symbolizes a growing Islamic influence, especially following past terrorist attacks in France.
However, critics counter that Muslim women who wear the hijab are simply exercising their religious freedom and should be allowed to dress as they choose.
France has long upheld a strict secularism policy, which prohibits teachers, civil servants, and students from wearing visible religious symbols, including Christian crosses, Jewish kippas, Sikh turbans, and Muslim hijabs in public institutions.
While there is no nationwide ban on religious attire in sports, several sports federations, including football and basketball, have already enforced their own rules prohibiting such clothing.
On Tuesday evening, the Senate voted 210 to 81 in favor of the bill, which aims to prohibit “the wearing of any sign or outfit ostensibly showing a political or religious affiliation” in all regional and national-level sports competitions organized by French sports federations.
Additionally, the draft law seeks to ban outfits in swimming pools that might be considered to reverse French nonspiritual values.
Junior Interior Minister Francois-Noel Buffet, a member of the right-wing Republicans (LR) party, stated that the government strongly supports the bill, calling it a necessary step “against separatism”.
Senator Michel Savin, who introduced the legislation, claimed that “communitarian temptations” had infiltrated sports arenas. However, the bill faced sharp criticism from left-wing senators, who argued that it violated the 1905 law protecting freedom of conscience.
Socialist senator Patrick Kanner accused the right of misusing France’s founding principles to justify “anti-Muslim rhetoric”, warning that this approach only fuels stereotypes and deepens societal divisions.
Meanwhile, Mathilde Ollivier, a senator from the Greens Party, said the bill “directly and gutlessly targets Muslim women”, aiming to push them out of sports.
Ahead of the vote, Amnesty International also criticized the proposed law, arguing that it would “exacerbate the blatant religious, racial, and gender discrimination already experienced by Muslim women in France”.
Amnesty researcher Anna Blus reaffirmed this concern, stating, “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.”
In October, UN experts also voiced their opposition, stating that restrictions imposed by football and basketball federations, along with the French government’s ban on athletes wearing headscarves at the Paris Olympics, were “disproportionate and discriminatory.
