In a 32-page report published ahead of the Paris Olympic Games later this month, the rights organisation highlights the devastating impact that hijab bans are having on Muslim women and girls at all levels of French sport.

Amnesty’s research found that out of 38 European countries, France is the only country to place bans on religious headwear, either on the level of national laws or individual sports regulations.

The ban on sports headgear contradicts the clothing rules of international sports bodies such as FIFA (International Football Federation), FIBA (International Basketball Federation) and FIVB (International Volleyball Federation).

Hijab bans in multiple sports in France have created an untenable situation which makes it in breach of multiple obligations under international human rights treaties to which France is a party as well as commitments and values set out in the International Olympic Committee’s own human rights framework.

Anna Błuś, Amnesty International’s women’s rights researcher in Europe, said: “Banning French athletes from competing with sports hijabs at the Olympic and Paralympic Games makes a mockery of claims that Paris 2024 is the first ‘gender equal Olympics’ and lays bare the racist gender discrimination that underpins access to sport in France.

“Discriminatory rules policing what women wear are a violation of Muslim women’s and girls’ human rights and have a devastating impact on their participation in sport, blocking efforts to make sports more inclusive and more accessible.

“No policymaker should dictate what a woman can or cannot wear and no woman should be forced to choose between the sport she loves and her faith, cultural identity, or beliefs.

“It is not too late for the French authorities, sports federations and the International Olympic Committee to do the right thing and to overturn all bans on athletes wearing the hijab in French sport, both at the summer Olympics and in all sport, at all levels.”