(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) The much-awaited Paris olympics 2024 kicked off with grand celebrations and fanfare on Friday. Despite heavy rainfall, over 6,000 athletes from around 205 countries participated in a spectacular opening ceremony, sailing down the Seine River on boats. However, the excitement of the 33rd Olympic Games was overshadowed by several controversies that plagued the preparations in France, including issues like the Hijab ban, train attack, and air conditioning disputes.
Paris Olympics 2024: Rail sabotage attempts -
In the days leading up to the Paris Olympics 2024, the French high-speed rail network faced a series of "malicious acts" aimed at disrupting the country's rail services. These sabotage attempts threatened to cause travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of people on Friday. The attacks targeted the north, southwest, and east regions of the capital, where the Olympic opening ceremony was held. However, rail workers managed to thwart most of the attempts. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stated on social media that intelligence services and law enforcement were mobilized to find and punish the perpetrators of these criminal acts.
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Paris Olympics 2024: Hijab controversy -
France's strict secularism laws have once again sparked controversy. The country's laws prohibit nationals from wearing hijabs, conflicting with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations, which allow athletes to wear religious attire, including hijabs. The controversy intensified when Sounkamba Sylla, a French athlete on the 400-meter women's and mixed relay teams, claimed she was barred from participating in the Olympics opening ceremony because she wore a hijab. "You are selected for the Olympics, organized in your country, but you can't participate in the opening ceremony because you wear a headscarf," Sylla wrote on social media.
Paris Olympics 2024: Calls to bn Israeli athletes -
In the context of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, pro-Palestine protesters have called for the exclusion of Israel's contingent from the Olympics. Despite these protests, Israeli athletes arrived in France under tight security.
Paris Olympics 2024: Concerns over Seine river pollution -
Another significant controversy concerns the polluted River Seine, chosen as the backdrop for the opening ceremony celebrations. The river, which had been off-limits for swimming for over a century due to hazardous pollution levels, is now deemed safe by the French government after a $1.5 billion cleanup effort. The Seine is also set to host triathlon swimming events on July 30 and 31 and the marathon on August 8 and 9. However, experts remain skeptical about the cleanliness of the water.
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Paris Olympics 2024: Allegations of 'social cleansing' -
Authorities have faced criticism for relocating migrants and homeless individuals from Paris' center to the city outskirts or other areas ahead of the Olympics. Activist groups and migrants have condemned this as a form of "social cleansing." Nathan Lequeux, an organizer for the activist group Utopia, said that the practice of removing migrants from the streets has become more pronounced in the lead-up to the Olympics.
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