Olympic teams praised after hijabs and bikini photo triggers huge conversation

A conversation surrounding the importance of women's rights to express themselves however they wish to has been sparked following a game of women's volleyball at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with the athletes who represented Egypt speaking out.

Images of the Egyptian team versus the Spanish team have gone viral due to the juxtaposition of their outfits.

Egypt's women's volleyball team have spoken out about France's controversial hijab ban. (THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Spain can be seen wearing red bikinis, while Egypt donned modest hijabs, long black sleeved shirts and black ankle leggings.

Egypt is a majority Muslim country, which explains the importance of their Olympic competitors feeling free to wear hijabs.

France have a controversial hijab ban for their athletes, due to their 'secularism' law which bans the wearing of religious items.

The ban doesn't just extend to the Olympics.

In 2004, the French government placed into effect new legislation banning 'conspicuous' religious symbols being displayed in state schools and hospitals.

Rokhaya Diallo noted for the Guardian: "The 2004 law was framed as a ban on all 'conspicuous' religious symbols, including large Christian crosses, [but] in practice it was targeted at expressions of Islam."

Sports Minister for France, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra established last year that the country would uphold 'a strict regime of secularism, applied rigorously in the field of sport' - confirming France would ban their athletes from wearing displays of faith.

In a post which drew attention to the difference in appearances at the Olympics, many people chimed in with their praise.

Marwa Abdelhady and Doaa Elghobashy have both emphasised the importance of free expression. (THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

One person wrote: "Nice to see people representing their religion in the Olympics."

Another said: "Isn't it so great that women get to CHOOSE what they wear? whether they choose to wear hijabs or bikinis, isnt it awesome that the choice is THEIRS?"

Following the match, Marwa Abdelhady and Doaa Elghobashy, who represented Egypt for women's volleyball, have spoken out on France's ban - as if they had been playing for France, their hijabs would not have been permitted.

Abdelhady told Swedish publisher Expressen: "I want to play in my hijab, she wants to play in a bikini.

“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."

Elghobashy told CNN: “At the end of the day, it’s a sport and I’m not a model. I’m an athlete and people should focus more on my athleticism rather than my clothes.

“Just because I’m a hijabi doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t have the opportunity to play at the Olympics."

She concluded: "I did this, I achieved it. I deserved it.”

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