Moscow slams France’s exclusion of Muslim athlete from Olympics opening ceremony as ‘segregation’

Moscow on Friday condemned France’s exclusion of Muslim athlete Sounkamba Sylla from the Paris Olympics opening ceremony as an act of segregation, News.Az reports citing Russian media.

“Another blatant act of segregation occurred on the eve of the Olympic Games in Paris. Black French track and field athlete Sounkamba Sylla, who is a Muslim, was denied the right to participate in the opening ceremony of the Games. The French Olympic Committee cited the ban on wearing a traditional element of clothing during sporting events,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, stated.

Zakharova emphasized that this case, as well as previous decisions on Russian and Belarusian athletes show that the modern Olympics have nothing to do with the goals of the Olympic movement declared more than a century ago in Paris and contradict the Olympic spirit.

News.Az