‘My heart is broken by France’s Olympic hijab ban’ – Diaba Konate
In a sweltering Paris, Diaba Konate waves enthusiastically with a beaming smile as she approaches our meeting spot near the Louvre, wearing a number 23 jersey. Basketball is her passion, so it’s no surprise.
The 23-year-old point guard recently returned to her home city after nearly six years in the United States, where she had a successful college career on a full scholarship from Idaho State University. She later transferred to UC Irvine, helping them reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.
Konate emerged as a rising star with the French national youth team, winning medals, including silver in 3×3 basketball at the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympics—an experience she describes as the “best memory” of her career and something she dreamed of recreating at the Paris Olympic Games.
However, she has mixed feelings about being back home because she is banned from competing in France.
Last year, during a summer break to play in a 3×3 tournament, Konate discovered she wasn’t allowed to step on the court due to a 2022 rule change by the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) that expressly bans any kit “with a religious or political connotation.”
“I just couldn’t believe it,” she says, initially thinking “it was a prank”.
“It cannot happen to me. I thought we were family. Like, it’s me guys – we used to play together, I’m part of you. I’m still the same person, nothing has changed.
“That really broke my heart.”
It was in the US during the height of the Covid pandemic that Konate chose to start wearing the hijab.
“For the last three years it’s really been my essence and something that’s a part of me,” she says.
“I went through a hard time and needed something that would give me hope. I reflected on myself and my identity when everything was uncertain and I was feeling lonely. I was born Muslim so I wanted to learn more about my religion and eventually I found the answers to all of my questions.
“It’s very hypocritical for France to call itself the country of freedom, of human rights, but at the same time not allowing Muslims or their citizens to show who they are.”
‘I was humiliated in front of everyone’
Stories like Konate’s have become familiar at all levels of basketball governed by the FFBB, meaning hijab-wearing players are facing restricted access to training and competition opportunities, which even impacts their social well-being.
In a community basketball court in the 19th district of Paris, Salimata Sylla hosts one of her ‘Ball.Her’ sessions. She describes it as a “safe space” for all women and girls interested in sports, regardless of whether they wear the hijab. Since she started running these sessions around Paris last year, as many as 60 women and girls have attended at a time.
“I’m in front of you today because of basketball,” says Sylla.
“Basketball means everything to me. It’s not just a word; it saved my life. I lived in a neighbourhood where there were drugs. Basketball helped me to be a better person, to have discipline in my life and become the best version of myself.”
Sylla was on the French league team Aubervilliers, but she hasn’t played with them for over a year.
In January 2023, moments before she was due to captain Aubervilliers as a point guard, Sylla’s coach had to break the news that the referee would only allow her on the court if she removed her sports hijab.
As a Muslim woman who had played whilst wearing the hijab for three years up until that point, it wasn’t even an option for her.
She recalls telling the match official: “You see me like this, and you’re not going to see me any other way.”
“I was humiliated in front of everyone,” Sylla says. “This is the country where I was born and that day they just put me on the side.”
After a three-hour journey from Paris to the north of France, Sylla sat on the bench and watched the team play without her.
Sylla is keen to challenge “ignorant” mindsets, saying: “They think if you wear the hijab, you’re just in the kitchen and doing nothing with your life.
“But I’m the example: I’m not just a Muslim, I’m not just a woman wearing the hijab – I’m an entrepreneur, I work in marketing, I have a masters degree, and I play basketball as well – so why are they putting me on the side?”