Over the years there have been numerous controversies surrounding the Olympic Games, from allegations of sexism and cultural relativism to just plain mismanagement. However, as the 2024 Paris Olympics unfolded across July, it seems that they will go down in history for all the things that are wrong with it rather than any showcase of athletic power and the spirit of global unity that the Olympics claim to symbolise.

This year’s games are specifically marred by a series of controversies and ethical dilemmas that are hard to ignore. From the discriminatory Hijab ban affecting Muslim athletes to the contentious inclusion of Israel despite the serious ruling of genocide and apartheid by the International Criminal Court, the Olympics are facing unprecedented scrutiny. Here is a list of things that are problematic about this year’s Olympics.

1. The Hijab Ban

In direct contravention of IOC’s (International Olympic Committee) core principles of equality and rules, France has used its strict secularism laws (read: Islamophobic laws) to ban its female Muslim athletes from wearing the hijab, or headscarf, at events and in the Olympic village. French Olympic sprinter Sounkamba Sylla took to social media days before the Games began, saying she would not be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony because of her hijab.

“You are selected for the Olympics, organised in your country, but you can’t participate in the opening ceremony because you wear a headscarf,” Sylla wrote on her private Instagram.

According to Amnesty International, bans on wearing hijab in French sports have been applied at all levels, including amateur and youth levels, even outside the Olympics. A ban against wearing the hijab in football was enforced in 2006, in basketball it was enforced in 2022 and in volleyball in 2023.

“We have documented over the years — (for) around 20 years — measures are being introduced constantly to limit Muslim women’s rights,” Anna Blus, a women’s rights and gender justice researcher at Amnesty International, said of France.

Despite numerous athletes competing in the hijab at the Olympic Games, and various headscarf designs being developed to allow Muslim women to safely compete with their heads covered, France’s highest administrative court sided with the French Football Federation in 2023, allowing its hijab ban in the sport which directly infringes upon an individual’s freedom and rights.

It would be laughable if it wasn’t a grim reality that the purported torch bearers of freedom and liberty think they should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear.

The hypocrisy is not lost on us that as the IOC celebrates Paris 2024 as the first “Gender Equal Olympics”, women and girls in France who wear the hijab are cruelly prevented from playing multiple sports at all levels. This deliberate discrimination has resulted in many Muslim women feeling isolated, excluded and humiliated. Various Muslim women athletes like Diaba Konaté have left France, or are thinking of leaving the country, in search of sporting environments that respect their religious beliefs. Human rights groups have called on the International Olympic Committee to publicly ask sporting authorities in France to overturn bans on wearing the hijab in the Olympic Games and at all levels, saying prohibitions are in place across at least six sports, including football, basketball, judo, boxing, volleyball and badminton.

In a country in which Muslims represent an estimated 10% of the population, the hijab ban which has been condemned by the United Nations as discriminatory, can only be seen as gendered Islamophobia.

2. Israel’s participation

The Palestine Olympic Committee sent a letter to the head of IOC and the French president Emmanuel Macron demanding that Israel be barred from the Paris Games over Israel’s illegal assault on Gaza. The letter cited the bombings of the besieged Gaza Strip as a breach of the Olympic truce and referenced a clear ICC ruling that the settler colonial state is not only an apartheid state but is also actively committing genocide against Palestinians. Additionally, it highlighted that many of its athletes have served in the IOF and sadistically signed bombs that have killed countless civilians, including men, women and children in Gaza.

The letter, sent days before Friday’s opening ceremony, “emphasised that Palestinian athletes, particularly those in Gaza, are denied safe passage and have suffered significantly due to the ongoing conflict”. It said “approximately 400 Palestinian athletes have been killed and the destruction of sports facilities exacerbates the plight of athletes who are already under severe restrictions”.

However, the request was rejected by both the IOC president Thomas Bach and French President Macron; the former not wanting to be drawn into “political business” while the latter shamelessly saying, “Israeli athletes are welcome in our country.” Macron said in an interview that “They must be able to compete under their colours because the Olympic movement has decided it,” adding that it was “France’s responsibility to provide them with security”.

Ironically, the Olympic movement deciding that female Muslim athletes are allowed to wear hijabs during sports has no bearing on France’s responsibility to protect the rights of their Muslim citizens.

The fact that France is a signatory of the ICC, combined with historical precedents such as the 1948 London Olympics barring Germany and Japan due to their roles in WWII, South Africa’s ban from the Games from 1964 to 1992 because of apartheid, and the stripping of Russian and Belarus athletes’ right to compete under their national colours following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine underscores the sinister reality we have watched in real time since October 2023: Israel can commit any number of war crimes it wants with impunity. This is a failure of both France and the IOC to uphold human rights and international justice within the global community.

If political gymnastics in order to protect Israel from accountability were a competitive sport, Western governments would certainly be awarded first place for it.

3. Stereotypes and Biases in Media Coverage 

The 2024 Olympic Games’ claim to inclusivity has been overshadowed by glaring contradictions. The opening ceremony, which was not only distasteful but also quite mediocre, inadvertently mocked Prophet Isa (AS) by depicting the biblical scene of Last Supper, causing significant offence to both Christians and Muslims worldwide. Although the organisers quickly apologised, attributing the incident to ‘inadvertent hurt’ and claiming they intended to showcase inclusivity and diversity, one cannot help but question why such sensitivity is rarely extended towards Muslims. The French are often quick to tout the virtues of freedom of speech and secularism at the expense of causing harm to Muslim communities.

When it comes to media coverage of the Olympics, it’s impossible to ignore how stereotypes and biases still shape the narrative. Despite documented human rights abuses related to the Paris Olympics, much of the Western media and political leaders have remained conspicuously silent. In the past, Western commentators, media outlets, and politicians have been quite vocal in criticising the human rights records of countries like Russia, China, and Qatar when they hosted major sporting events, accusing them of using such events to improve their international image and calling for boycotts. However, they rarely apply similar scrutiny to Western countries. The ability of Western media to portray human rights issues within the West as isolated incidents rather than systemic problems, suggests a biased view of moral superiority.

This is particularly evident when it comes to media portrayal of refugee athletes. Far too often, these athletes are portrayed through a white saviour lens, where their participation is framed as a result of Western benevolence rather than a testament to their own skill and resilience. This narrative not only oversimplifies their experiences, diminishing their achievements by reducing them to mere symbols of charity, but also completely whitewashes the complicity of western governments in causing these athletes to become refugees in the first place.

If this wasn’t bad enough, the presence of a convicted child rapist competing in the Games exposes a troubling undercurrent of sexism and misogyny. Controversy has already emerged over male fans complaining about female beach volleyball players choosing to wear leggings instead of the mandatory bikini bottoms, a decision that the International Olympic Committee had previously enforced to be excessively skimpy.

The resulting optics are a global sporting event where women are banned, objectified and fined simply for wanting the agency to choose what to wear, while men like Steven van de Velde and countries like Israel are forgiven and glorified, regardless of their criminal actions. As many people would say, it sounds about white.

4. The disproportionate level of privilege needed to compete at the Olympics

While the Games are celebrated as a stage where raw talent and perseverance is honoured despite adversity, the reality is that only a select few, often from elite backgrounds or rich nations from the Global North, have the resources necessary to participate.

This systemic bias is evident in the variety of barriers faced by athletes from underprivileged classes and regions; barriers that include financial constraints, inadequate training facilities, nutritional deficiencies caused by systemic depletion of resources, and limited access to international competitions. Chances are that you will not see many people of colour (POC) competitors in expensive sports like equestrianism, rowing, and archery. However, in more accessible sports such as track and field, boxing, and basketball, Black athletes frequently dominate, which clearly illustrates that the issue is not about inherent ability but about opportunity and class privilege.

The fact is that if you come from wealth and privilege, access to expensive interests, contacts, and opportunity is much easier and paid for through private education. Despite drumming the mantra of inclusivity and equality, the Olympics frequently showcase a glaring divide where only those with means to sail through this costly process are truly able to compete.

This inherent privilege perpetuates a cycle where the world’s most talented athletes are often left behind, simply because they lack the means and resources to make their Olympic dreams a reality.

5. Game of Grift: Legacy of Gentrification & Greenwashing

From Rio to Tokyo, Vancouver to Beijing, London to Paris, hosting the Olympics has come at a devastating cost for local residents who’ve experienced accelerated gentrification, displacement, privatisation, municipal debt, environmental damage, and militarisation of police alongside the implementation of permanently ramped-up surveillance regimes.

Beneath the glittering hype of economic and tourism gains, the harsh reality is that marginalised communities bear the brunt of hosting these games.

In March 2023, France began relocating its unhoused residents out of Paris in anticipation of both the Rugby World Cup and the upcoming Summer Olympics. Paris is not alone in this disregard for the displaced. Beijing 2008, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 followed similar patterns of forced evictions and inadequate alternative housing plans for the unhoused, in order to create space for temporary accommodations. Apart from displacement, introduction of new transit stations or freeways can also make previously “undesirable” neighbourhoods more attractive to wealthier residents, potentially displacing low-income residents as property values rise.

This recurring pattern of displacement is dubbed the “Olympic Legacy.” When governments prioritise the needs of major events over the rights of their residents, they violate fundamental human rights, including the right to housing. Gentrification is not the only problem associated with hosting the Olympics. All major sporting events are accompanied with disastrous environmental consequences.

Paris 2024’s organisers have claimed that this is “the first major sporting event to positively impact the climate,” pledging to offset more carbon emissions and planning to transform Saint-Denis neighbourhood into the “ultimate eco-district,” with 1,300 new housing units, including 20% social housing, a public swimming pool, and new green spaces. Yet, local residents argue that these spaces may not be accessible to low-income residents, raising concerns about further driving up property values and deepening inequalities. Activists call these claims greenwashing and are concerned that these developments could disrupt local wildlife migration corridors and worsen air quality in these areas, which is already the worst in France.

Historically, the Olympic Games have exceeded their projected budgets by an average of 172 percent, leaving taxpayers to shoulder the financial burden for years to come. But in spite of these well documented negative impacts, cities eagerly vie for the opportunity to host, viewing the Olympics as a chance to boost their global image and attract investment. This approach resembles the inner workings of a well-oiled capitalist machine. Hosting mega-events like the Olympics tends to kickstart gentrification, securing profit for developers and politicians alike, even if it means that the host governments lose money.

It is clear that the Olympic ideals of equality and respect often fall short when faced with deeper issues of discrimination and injustice. While the Games are meant to unite and inspire, they frequently reveal ongoing exclusion and exploitation within the sports world. This gap between the Olympic vision and the reality faced by many athletes and marginalised groups underscores the need for a serious conversation about the intersection of sports, politics, and human rights.