PARIS: French government and Olympics officials are seeking a creative solution to allow Muslim French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla to wear her hijab at the opening ceremony while still complying with the country’s secularism laws, they said on Wednesday.
Thousands of athletes, including some who wear a hijab, are arriving for the Paris Olympics, placing an international spotlight on tensions in France over national identity and perceived discrimination against Muslims.
Sylla, part of France’s 400-meter relay team, wrote on her Instagram account on Monday that her hijab — a head covering worn by many Muslim women — would prevent her from appearing in Friday’s blockbuster opening ceremony along the Seine River.
“You are selected for the Olympic Games, organized in your country, but you can’t take part in the opening ceremony because you wear a scarf on your head,” Sylla posted on her account.
She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
France, home to Europe’s largest Muslim minority, enforces laws to protect the principle of secularism under which state employees and school pupils are banned from wearing religious symbols and clothing in public institutions. Rights groups say these rules effectively discriminate against Muslims.
Eager to avoid an embarrassing domestic flap with the entire world watching, French government and Olympics officials said they were willing to find a solution for Sylla, although it remains unclear what that could be.
“Our citizens expect us to follow these principles of secularism, but we also need to be inventive about solutions to make everyone feel good,” Amelia Oudea-Castera, minister for sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said on Wednesday, adding that Sylla “understands our principles, our rules.”
Foreign athletes are not affected by the secularism rules.
David Lappartient, president of the French Olympic Committee, said the French Olympic team was “taking part in a public service mission and in this respect it is obliged to observe secularism.”
He acknowledged that the French approach “is sometimes incomprehensible in other countries,” but said there was still time to find solutions before the gala ceremony.
Numerous French sporting authorities have banned women from wearing religious head coverings, such as in football, basketball, judo and boxing, according to Human Rights Watch.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not have rules against wearing religious head coverings.
Maria Hurtado, spokeswoman for the UN high commissioner for human rights, criticized the French government in September last year over its stance on the hijab for French athletes during the Olympic Games, saying that “no one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear.”
Le Parisien newspaper reported that Sylla might participate in the Olympics opening ceremony wearing a cap.
France struggles with its hijab rules for Olympics opening ceremony
https://arab.news/z4erd
France struggles with its hijab rules for Olympics opening ceremony
- Thousands of athletes, including some who wear a hijab, are arriving for the Paris Olympics
- Sylla, part of France’s 400-meter relay team, wrote on her Instagram account on Monday that her hijab would prevent her from appearing in Friday’s blockbuster opening ceremony
Young future stars of Saudi golf enjoy a moment alongside the big names at LIV Golf Riyadh
- Participants in ROSHN Rising Stars program to develop golfing talent in the Kingdom play friendly competition at Riyadh Golf Club before round 3 of the season opener tees off
- ‘Golf is such a fundamental sport for development … The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity,’ says LIV Golf’s Jake Jones
RIYADH: While much of the spotlight during LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh this week has of course been on the return of some of the sport’s biggest names for the new campaign, a new generation of Saudi golfers is also quietly taking its own first steps into the game.
Participants in the ROSHN Rising Stars program, an initiative designed to introduce and develop young golfing talent across the Kingdom, gathered at Riyadh Golf Club on Friday afternoon for a friendly competition a few hours before the third round of the main event teed off under the lights.
“The real focus is getting golf into the lives of young people in the Kingdom,” Jake Jones, LIV Golf’s senior vice president of impact and sustainability told Arab News as the young golfers took to the course under cloudy skies.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different, something sustained, with a long-term outcome, and that’s how this program was created.”
The program runs for 20 weeks, during which the participants receive weekly coaching and instruction sessions at Riyadh Golf Club from Golf Saudi professionals.
“This takes them from never having held a golf club before to reaching a point where they’ve now played in a competition,” Jones said.
The fact that the LIV Golf season opens in Riyadh provides another key benefit for the participants, as they get to experience the professional game up close, and this access to world-class players and events forms a key part of their journey.
“We give them exposure to our LIV Golf events, here and internationally,” Jones added.
Beyond this, and teaching people how to play the game, the program offers participants insights into the wider aspects of the world of golf, including career opportunities.
“They’ve had behind-the-scenes tours, pitch-and-putt sessions, long-drive competitions and visits to places like the media center,” Jones said. “It’s about showing them what it’s like not just to play golf, but work in the sport as well.”
Friday’s event in Riyadh marked the conclusion of the 20-week program for its participants.
“Today is really the celebration point,” Jones said. “We’re at the graduation phase of this journey, where they’ll compete in a three-hole challenge. We then crown a winner and celebrate with them back at the ROSHN Fan Village.”
As golf continues to grow in popularity in the region, Jones believes initiatives such as Rising Stars will have a lasting effect on the development of next generation of players.
“Golf is such a fundamental sport for development; it’s not just about physical activity and having fun,” he said. “The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity.
“Imagine playing golf and you miss the ball or you end up in the sand; you have to get back up and try again. You block the noise around you and focus on the ball to make the right shot.”
Jones highlighted in particular the importance of integrity as one of golf’s defining characteristics, and how that can help shape personal development.
“The rules of golf are reliant on you following them,” he said. “That sense of honesty and self-discipline is something young players can carry beyond the course” into the roles they play in their communities, societies and countries.
“The role that golf can have with young people in Saudi Arabia is actually another layer of baking in those core societal skills, to ensure that they are fit and robust for the future,” Jones added.
This is particularly important given the youthful nature of the Saudi population, more than half of which is under the age of 30, he said, and they now have the chance to benefit from golf in one way or another.
“Golf is now another avenue that they can explore. Whether it’s playing, working in the sport or simply finding a community, we want to give them another reason to get excited.
“We believe that golf can do all of that and, hopefully, it can spark a lasting passion among the Saudi youth.”
