Egyptian beach volleyball team blast French hijab ban

The Egyptian women's beach volleyball team called out France's hijab ban for its country's athletes after their match in the 2024 Paris Olympics last week.

Marwa Abdelhady and Doaa Elghobashy, who are both representing Egypt at the 2024 Paris Olympics, wore hijabs, black leggings and long-sleeve t-shirts while facing off against Spain in a women's beach volleyball match. Spain's team members wore bikinis during the Aug. 1 match.

"I want to play in my hijab, she wants to play in a bikini," Elghobashy told Expressen last week. "Everything is OK, if you want to be naked or wear a hijab. Just respect all different cultures and religions."

"I don't tell you to wear a hijab and you don't tell me to wear a bikini. No one can tell me how to dress. It's a free country, everyone should be allowed to do what they want," she continued, per Expressen.

Elghobashy made history in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics, becoming the first athlete to play volleyball in a hijab at the Olympics.

If Elghobashy and Abdelhady were playing for France this year, they would not have been permitted to wear their hijabs over the country's rule prohibiting female Muslim athletes from wearing a sports hijab or headscarves during the Olympics. The hijab bans apply to athletes at all levels of French sports, including amateur and youth levels outside of the Olympics, according to Amnesty International.

In January 2022, the French senate voted to ban hijab in sports competitions and other "ostensible religious symbols." In September of last year, it was confirmed the ban would also apply to the French athletes participating in the Paris Olympics, CNN reported.

Days ahead of the Olympics, French Olympic sprinter Sounkamba Sylla said she would not be permitted to participate in the opening ceremony because of her hijab.

"You are selected for the Olympics, organized in your country, but you can't participate in the opening ceremony because you wear a headscarf," Sylla said on her private Instagram, according to The Associated Press.