At the Olympic Games next year, athletes from France are not permitted to wear hijabs.

In an interview with the French political show Dimanche en Politique, the nation’s sports minister made the announcement, according to Inside the Games.

Amelie Oudea-Castera, a government spokesperson for France, explained the decision by stating that after discussions with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, officials were aiming for “absolute neutrality” during the Games in the nation’s capital.

‘We have, thanks to a recent decision of the Council of State, expressed very clearly with the Prime Minister our attachment to a regime of strict secularism,’ Oudéa-Castéra said.

‘This means the prohibition of any form of proselytism, the absolute neutrality of public service.

‘The representatives of our delegations in our French teams will not wear the veil.

‘The International Olympic Committee, which governs these rules of participation, is following a logic which consists of understanding the wearing of the veil not as a religious factor but as a cultural factor,’ Oudéa-Castéra added.

‘It is based on the provisions of International Federations which are not all the same in this area. There will be heterogeneity between sports.’

France had already banned the wearing of hijab in schools.