New French law banning hijab in sport is heinous and harmful

This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

As I watched highlights from the Women's Asian Cup, I was delighted to see that the Iranian women's national soccer team was playing. 

For many years women in hijab (the headscarf worn by Muslim women) could not play soccer due to a hijab ban. This was struck down by FIFA in 2014.

While it will take decades for Muslim women to emerge in elite development programs around the world, there is hope. Jordan hosted a Women's World Cup (U17) in 2016, the first FIFA-sanctioned tournament to ever be hosted in the Middle East. There have been teams and leagues in Afghanistan (before the Taliban regime took control) and Saudi Arabia.

But there is one country that has refused to allow hijab-wearing women to participate in soccer. A country that boasts about its freedoms while rejecting personal religious expression and banning women from choosing their own clothing: France.

Last week, France voted 160-143 in favour of banning hijab not just from one sport, but from every conceivable competition, be it recreational activity or high-level participation. While President Emmanuel Macron and his party opposed the ban, supporters of this law insist that "religious neutrality" is required in sports and a hijab stands in opposition of this. In addition, they argue that banning Islam will prevent the spread of "radical Islam."

This exclusion of Muslim women from sport is gendered Islamophobia masquerading as a shield to protect secularism in the European nation. Do men not regularly make the symbol of the cross before stepping on the pitch to play? Religious imagery is permissible it seems, just not with