Afghan refugee athlete disqualified from Paris Olympics for slogan on cape | Video inside

New Delhi: Afghanistan girl Manizha Talash, a member of the refugee Olympic team at the Paris Games, was disqualified from the sporting extravaganza. Talash, displayed the words ‘Free Afghan Women on her cape during her breaking routine in the competition’s pre-qualifiers on Friday and hence faced disqualification.

Talash, who live in Spain, wore a light blue cape that had the phrase written on it with large white letters during her pre-qualifier loss to India Sardjoe of Netherlands. Any kind of political slogans and statements are banned on the field of play and on the podium at the Olympics. Any any athlete displaying any such kind of slogan or raising any kind of support is immediately disqualified. The governing body later said the 21-year-old had been disqualified.

Talash was disqualified for displaying a political slogan on her attire, World DanceSport Federation said in a statement.

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Free Afghan Women ✊ #Paris2024 #breaking pic.twitter.com/hjbQHFhpCk

— Thibaut Buccellato (@Thibuch) August 9, 2024

Talash, who is originally from Kabul, is one of the 37 athletes competing in the Paris Olympics for the refugee team. She fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021 and banned music and dancing and barred females from classrooms and gyms.

Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states ‘no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas’. Talash was eliminated from the competition before the round-robin stage, but her message will have been seen on the biggest stage her sport has ever been on. Breakdancing, the Olympics’ newest sport, will not be at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, but will be hoping to show enough potential to be considered for Brisbane 2032.

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