France has been grappling with concerns and controversies in the lead up to the Olympics 2024, which are set to get under way in Paris on July 26.
media looks at the five biggest talking points surrounding the hosting of the Games:
The host nation has barred its athletes from wearing the hijab – a headscarf worn by some Muslim women – while participating in the Games.
In September, then-French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera announced that the country’s athletes would not be allowed to wear hijabs during the Olympics to respect principles of secularism and to ensure “absolute neutrality in public services”.
The move was met with widespread criticism and protests as despite being home to one of Europe’s largest Muslim minorities, France is the only country on the continent that excludes hijab-wearing athletes in most domestic sports competitions.
However, the International Olympic Committee confirmed that athletes will be free to wear the hijab at the athletes’ village.
“For the Olympic Village, the IOC rules apply,” an IOC spokesperson said soon after the ban was imposed by the French government. “There are no restrictions on wearing the hijab or any other religious or cultural attire.”
Palestinians facing the wrath of Israel’s war on Gaza and pro-Palestine protesters have called on the IOC to ban Israel from the Olympics.
More than 38,000 Palestinians, including at least 15,000 children, have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks in eastern Israel.
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