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French Olympic athlete suspended for 'inciting hatred' online

French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said French sprinter Muhammad Abdallah Kounta's  messages and posts targeting Israel in particular were "as shocking as they are unacceptable".

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

French sprinter Muhammad Abdallah Kounta, who competed for France at the Paris Olympics, was suspended by the national federation on Wednesday for publishing comments inciting hatred on social media, reports Barrons.

French minister of sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said on X that the French athletics federation (FFA) president "confirmed to me that he had suspended the athlete, contacted the public prosecutor as well as the disciplinary commission of the federation".

She described Kounta's messages and posts targeting Israel in particular "as shocking as they are unacceptable".

The messages have since been deleted.

After deactivating his X account, Kounta reactivated it to post an apology where he introduced himself as "French, Muslim and proud".

Read more of this AFP report published by Barrons