Amnesty International is urging French legislators to reject a proposed law that would prohibit headscarves in all sporting events.

Supported by right-wing senators, this bill, slated for debate in the Senate starting Tuesday, aims to ban all outwardly religious clothing and symbols during competitions. Amnesty International contends this measure would be discriminatory.

The vote is expected to reignite the ongoing debate on secularism, a contentious issue even over a century after the 1905 law establishing it as a core principle of the French Republic.

Currently, sports federations have the autonomy to decide on headscarf allowances; however, soccer and rugby, two major French sports, have opted for bans.

This bill is in its early stages; this week’s vote initiates a lengthy legislative process with an uncertain outcome. Even with Senate approval, its future remains uncertain as the lower house holds ultimate authority.

Passage requires an unlikely coalition in the deeply divided lower house.

Amnesty International’s plea follows an incident last summer where an athlete was initially barred from the Paris Olympics opening ceremony due to her hijab, though she was later permitted to participate wearing a cap.

France maintains a strict principle of “laïcité,” or secularism. At the Olympics, the French Olympic Committee president stated that its athletes are bound by secular principles applicable to public sector workers, including a hijab ban.

“The Paris Olympics saw France’s ban on headscarf-wearing female athletes spark international condemnation,” stated Anna Błuś, an Amnesty International gender justice researcher.

“Six months later, French authorities are not only upholding the discriminatory hijab ban but seeking to extend it across all sports.”

Experts advising the French government previously criticized the French soccer and basketball federations’ decisions to exclude hijab-wearing players and the government’s prevention of headscarf-wearing athletes from representing France at the Paris Games.

Amnesty International asserts that the bill effectively targets Muslim women and girls by barring them from sports if they wear a headscarf or other religious attire.

“Laïcité…theoretically enshrined in the French constitution to safeguard religious freedom, has frequently served as a pretext to restrict Muslim women’s access to public spaces in France,” Amnesty International stated.

“Over several years, French authorities have implemented laws and policies to regulate Muslim women’s and girls’ clothing in discriminatory ways. Sports federations have followed suit, imposing hijab bans in various sports.”

Two years ago, France’s highest administrative court ruled that the country’s soccer federation was justified in banning headscarves in competitions, even though this limits freedom of expression.

Invoking the constitution’s religious neutrality principle, the soccer federation also presents difficulties for international players observing Ramadan’s dawn-to-sunset fasting.

Proponents of the bill cite rising attacks on secularism in sports, arguing that its core values are rooted in universality. To safeguard sports venues from non-sporting conflicts, they advocate for neutrality to prevent political, religious, or racial demonstrations or propaganda.

The bill also stipulates that using a sports facility as a place of worship constitutes misuse and prohibits wearing religious clothing, such as the burkini, in public swimming pools.

“By framing headscarf wearing as an ‘attack on secularism,’ ranging from ‘permissiveness’ to ‘terrorism,’ this legislation, if enacted, would fuel racism and reinforce the hostile environment facing Muslims and those perceived as Muslim in France,” Amnesty International stated.