Diaba Konat loves France. But a hijab ruling stops her playing there
The energy radiating from Diaba Konaté is palpable, even over our transatlantic Zoom chat. The wide-smiling college star has dreamed of playing basketball in the States ever since she was a young girl. She moved to the US from France in December 2018 on a full scholarship from Idaho State University, later transferring as a junior to the University of California, Irvine.
The 23-year-old point guard’s collegiate highlights include averaging 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game as a junior, ranking among the top-30 in the nation with her free-throw percentage, and tying eighth in single-season school history with 63 steals. She also reached 1,000 points in her collegiate career after dropping a season-high 20 against UC Santa Barbara in February 2023.
Diaba’s journey began aged 11 when a teacher recognised her potential at school in Paris, and she soon joined the French youth team set-up, going on to win medals with the under-18 and under-23 teams. “France taught me basketball,” she tells me, her French accent delicately skimming her fluent English. You can sense deep affection and pride when she speaks of home, but there’s one major glitch – she is banned from playing in her own country simply because she wears a hijab.
The French Federation of Basketball (FFBB) prohibits the wearing of “any equipment with a religious or political connotation”, which discriminates against Muslim women in headgear. Secularism in France, or ‘laïcité’, has restricted those wearing religious attire from entering many official public institutions, including the sporting arena, in a continual drive to separate religion and state. With the Paris Games starting in July, the FFBB’s ruling has drawn fire from around the world, with critics saying that it goes against the spirit of the Olympics, and sports in general.
Diaba says she is “heartbroken” at the ban in France, which prevents her from playing in public arenas in her hijab. “It’s like a two people relationship. I want to step towards them, but they’re backing up. I love my home country, but I feel like America loves me more.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/15/diaba-konate-loves-france-but-a-hijab-ruling-stops-her-playing-there
I don't think (correct me if I'm wrong) that France prohibits nuns from wearing their habits. So this is stupid. Just stupid. Let the women play!
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