(Middle East Eye) French athletes will not be allowed to wear veils during the Paris Olympic Games set to be held next year, the country’s sports minister announced on Sunday.
Appearing as a guest on the show Sunday in Politics, airing on the channel France 3, Amelie Oudea-Castera said that no member of the French delegation would be allowed to wear the head covering.
“The representatives of our delegations in our French teams will not wear the veil,” she said, further hinting that restrictions may be extended.
“As for the French position on the subject, we have, thanks to a recent decision of the Council of State, expressed very clearly with the prime minister our attachment to a regime of strict secularism, strictly applied in the field of sport,” she added. “This means the prohibition of any form of proselytism, the absolute neutrality of public service.”
