Diaba Konaté, named the NCAA Big West Conference’s Best Defensive Player of the Year for 2023-2024, has made significant strides in her basketball career.
Despite her remarkable skills, Konaté faces a significant barrier: she is barred from playing basketball in her own country, France, due to her hijab, USA Today reported.
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) lifted the global ban on headscarves in 2017, acknowledging the importance of inclusivity in sports.
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However, the French Federation of Basketball (FFBB) has chosen to uphold France’s secularism laws, which ban religious symbols in public institutions. This stance has severely impacted Muslim athletes like Konaté.
“It’s very frustrating to be excluded from representing my country or just being able to play basketball simply because of my religious identity as a Muslim woman who chooses to wear hijab,” Konaté said.
“I can’t fully express my faith and pursue my athletic aspiration.”
Support from Fellow Athletes
Activists argue that France’s hijab ban is discriminatory and detrimental to the participation of Muslim women and girls in sports. This exclusion can negatively impact their physical and mental health.
“Who are we trying to erase when we say that you can’t represent France while being visibly Muslim?” questioned Hélène Bâ, a French basketball player and human rights lawyer. Bâ, co-founder of Basket Pour Toutes (Basketball For All), has been actively campaigning to have the ban overturned.
“It is a clear violation of the Olympic Charter values and provisions,” Bâ stated.
“It infringes on our fundamental rights and freedoms, violates our freedom of conscience and religion, and reinforces gender and racial stereotypes, feeding into the anti-Muslim hate that already pervades parts of French society.”
Challenges and Inequities
Timothée Gauthiérot, a French basketball coach and co-founder of Basket Pour Toutes, noted the discrepancy in treatment between Muslim players and Sikh players, who often wear turbans without issue.
“Maybe we won’t be able to measure the full impact of this ban for two, three, five, ten years,” he said. “But we can already feel it. Some girls have stopped playing sports.”
Despite these challenges, support from the international Muslim athletic community remains strong. Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, an American former NCAA player who played a pivotal role in overturning FIBA’s hijab ban in 2017, encouraged perseverance.
“Diaba, I’m sorry,” said Abdul-Qaadir. “They can bar us from their organizations and their governing bodies. They can’t stop us from playing.”
Konaté and other Muslim athletes continue to fight for their right to play sports without compromising their religious beliefs, highlighting the need for greater inclusivity and respect for diversity in athletics.