‘No one should be excluded’: Australia’s Tina Rahimi speaks out at Olympic hijab ban
Australian boxer Tina Rahimi has also strongly condemned the French authorities’ policy and measures, according to which religious headdresses cannot be worn by French athletes during the Olympics. The ban, which affects French competitors in sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, and boxing, has been condemned for infringing the performers’ rights to self-expression on matters of faith.
On Instagram, Rahimi, the first female Muslim boxer for Australia’s Olympic team, recently talked about her freedom to wear hijab. “Women are free to choose how they would like to dress,” Rahimi said. ‘With or without hijab,’ she declared, ‘I prefer to wear the hijab as a part of my religion, and I proudly do so. ’ The 28-year-old fighter from Bankstown, Sydney, wears her long sleeves and hijab under the headgear before the fight.
Rahimi confidently stated that athletes should not be put in a position where they have to sacrifice their faith and sports. ‘You shouldn’t have to give up your beliefs/religion for your sport,’ she stressed. Such sentiment sums up the general worries about French policy, which affects only French athletes and not foreign competitors.
The Hijab ban has attracted many opponents, including International human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to intervene. In June, these groups can send an open letter to the IOC to protest against the ban, stating it as discriminating. This is because it violates the athletes’ human rights and directly violates the IOC Strategic Framework for Human Rights and the principles of Olympism.
Another dramatic case before the arranged celebration was that of French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla, who almost did not qualify for such a dress code as her headscarf. A last-minute resolution allowed Sylla to participate, which included wearing a cap over the hair to be included in the ceremony.
Laïcité, or France’s policies of secularism, has already governed religious dresses in the public domain. While these regulations aim to establish the principle of the state’s neutrality regarding religions and believing and nonbelieving associations, they have repeatedly become the focus of discussions on religious tolerance and diversity.
Rahimi, a bronze medalist at the just concluded 2022 Commonwealth Games and the reigning Pacific Games champion, will make her Olympic bow in the women’s featherweight category on Friday. Most of the time, she actively promotes Palestinian identity and is an activist for tolerance. “We all are students of school and college, regardless of whatever color our skin is, whatever gender we are, from whatever background, and irrespective of the religion we follow,” Rahimi said, “we all join hands together for the only dream, and that is to compete and to win, and no one should be left out Discrimination has no place in sports world let alone in Olympics and what it represents. ”
Rahimi’s comments have been widely supported by people who now accept discrimination and Ignorance of basic human rights in sports. This event is an extension of a continuing discussion on religious freedom, specifically in relation to sports, competitions, and international shields such as the Olympics.
