Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday criticized the French Olympic Committee for banning a hijab-wearing athlete from representing her nation France on the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, calling it “another glaring act of segregation.”
Sounkamba Sylla, a French sprinter of shade who practices Islam, has been barred from representing the nation on the opening ceremony, with the French Olympic Committee citing a ban on “wearing traditional clothing” at sporting occasions, Zakharova stated in a press release.
She emphasised that this choice demonstrated how far the worldwide sporting occasion has deviated from the objectives set by the Olympic motion in Paris over 100 years in the past, contradicting the Olympic spirit.
“Previously, Russian and Belarusian athletes were also subject to segregation under unfounded pretexts. These bans were later extended to Russian media outlets, and now French athletes are also affected by this discriminatory administrative-political regulatory machine,” she lamented.
Despite French officers’ claims to worth variety and free expression, dissenters face seen sanctions, Zakharova stated, including: “The sacred principle of keeping sport separate from politics has been trampled by the collective West.”
“Given these circumstances, the Olympics no longer possess the distinctive attributes that allow them to be viewed as open, honest, fair, and democratic sporting competitions,” she concluded.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which run till August 11, started on Friday with a gap ceremony alongside the Seine River.
Source: www.anews.com.tr