In Paris, France, Diaba Konate, a talented basketball player with a promising career, faced obstacles after she started wearing a hijab. Despite her success in national and international tournaments, Konate’s dreams of playing for France again were hindered by the French Federation of Basketball’s ban on religious or political attire. Feeling abandoned by the FFBB and former coaches, Konate joined the collective Basket Pour Toutes to defy the hijab ban in basketball and advocate for Muslim women’s participation in sports. This ban, part of France’s secularism policy, disproportionately affects Muslim women, leading to calls for its overturn by human rights experts and activists. With the Paris 2024 Olympics approaching, Basket Pour Toutes is pushing for intervention from the International Olympic Committee and the International Basketball Federation to lift the ban on hijab-wearing athletes. The ban’s impact on female Muslim athletes in France, like Helene Ba, has sparked a movement for solidarity and empowerment through organizations like Basket Pour Toutes, led by individuals like Timothee Gauthierot and Helene Ba, who are dedicated to supporting Muslim women in pursuing their basketball dreams despite the challenges they face.
