Saudi Girls Should Be Allowed To Play Sports, Says Prince

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Appealing to a powerful Saudi prince, an 8-year-old girl asked why she was not allowed to play sports in school like boys. She got an unexpected response: The prince said he hoped government schools for girls would allow playing fields.

The stand taken by Prince Khaled al-Faisal, governor of the holy city of Mecca and one of the most senior second-generation members of the royal family, on the controversial issue is the strongest official endorsement so far of women's sports and a sign the government may be tilting toward opening up on that front.

Physical education classes are banned in state-run girls schools in conservative Saudi Arabia. Saudi female athletes are not allowed to participate in the Olympics. Women's games and marathons have been canceled when the powerful clergy get wind of them. And some clerics even argue that running and jumping can damage a woman's hymen and ruin her chances of getting married.

Like other restrictions on women in the kingdom, including the ban on driving and voting, the prohibitions on sports stem from the strict version of Islam the kingdom follows. Conservative clerics have strong influence on government and society, and they ban anything they believe might lead to women's emancipation or encourage women to abandon conservative Muslim values.

Despite the obstacles, there has been some progress in the past couple of years on this issue. Some Saudi women have quietly been forming soccer, basketball, volleyball and other teams throughout the kingdom.

Princess Adelah, King Abdullah's daughter, recently spoke publicly about the need to "seriously and realistically look into the issue of introducing sports in girls' schools because of the rise in diseases linked to obesity and lack of movement," according to Al-Riyadh newspaper. About 52 percent of Saudi men and 66 percent of women are either obese or overweight, according to Saudi press reports.

And on Sunday, the National Retirement Association, a voluntary group that works under the umbrella of the Jiddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, opened a half-mile (one-kilometer) walkway inside a Jiddah mall for female retirees to encourage them to lead active lives. Dressed in the long black cloaks women have to wear in public and clutching their handbags, a few women took part in a "marathon" soon after it opened.

Khaled's remarks, which he made at the launch of a project Monday aimed at developing cultural and sporting activities in the western city of Jiddah, gives a boost to these individual efforts. The prince is interested in sports and has served as head of the General Presidency for Youth Welfare, the federation that oversees it.

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According to local newspapers, the 8-year-old girl told Khaled: "I ask myself why is it that only boys can play sports and have courts while we girls don't have anything?"

"I hope to see sports courts for girls inside girls' schools," the prince responded, according to Al-Hayat newspaper.

He said if this were to happen, it will be in coordination with the Education Ministry and "according to certain mechanisms that take into consideration women's privacy in this country."

His remarks came amid an intense debate over the issue in Saudi newspapers. The government allows such debates because the views expressed by the readers, columnists and clerics help it to gauge people's opinions over controversial issues.

A statement issued by three senior clerics last month lashed out at Saudis who demand the opening of more gyms for women, saying such a move would "open the doors wide for spreading decadence."

"It is well-known that only women with no shame will go to these clubs," said the statement signed by clerics Abdul-Rahman al-Barrack, Abdul-Aziz al-Rajihi and Abdullah bin Jibrin.

In a recent column in Al-Watan newspaper, Sheik Abdullah al-Mani, an adviser at the royal court, said virgins should think twice before engaging in sports.

"Soccer or basketball require running and jumping and these could damage (a woman's) the hymen," he wrote. "If she marries, her husband will ... think that her hymen was destroyed as a result of an (immoral) action."

"He will either divorce her or lose confidence in her chastity," he added.

His words triggered an angry response from Al-Watan columnist Haleema Muthafar.

"I'd like to ask the sheikh, "If in his opinion the hymen is the reason why girls should not engage in sports, what about married women? What's to stop them?" she wrote.

Comments

[TheBurdicks]

Of interest;
On the NE side of Riyadh, on the main freeway to the airport, is a huge construction project, Princess Noura bint Abdul Rahman University, stimulated through the reform efforts of King Abdullah. Included in the curriculum in this state of the art Woman's University for about 40,000, will be a full program of sports and physicial education.
On the W Coast of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, stimulated through the reform efforts of King Abdullah, will educate 45,000 integrated coed students. Dress codes and policies of behavior will be set by internal faculty and student committees without any outside political or religous interference.
Throughout Riyadh are numerous examples of a growing number of gyms and clubs for women, where my wife regularly teaches personal fitness and Yoga.
Many Saudi ladies, including clients of my wife, regularly work on personal fitness in their homes without restriction or interference.
The first woman was recently added to the Shoura Council, as an advisor to the government.
Female members of the Royal Family are vocal and active in reform, especially in the role of women in the society.
There is a growing sentiment, shared by men and women throughout Saudi Arabia, that women should drive, and there are strong indications this change is coming.
Rights for women in the West were slow to come, and are as yet incomplete. Give the Saudi's a little time, they're progressively moving in the right direction.

[JScott]

A statement issued by three senior clerics last month lashed out at Saudis who demand the opening of more gyms for women, saying such a move would "open the doors wide for spreading decadence."

They should have the clerics sit on their butt all day eating big meals, see if that changes their tune real quick oh and BTW Allah and Mohammed (PBUH) would be APALLED

(remember Neda!)

[dteg]

No countries team should be allowed in olympics or world cup if they don't allow women to participate in sports.

[kraznet]

only 2 comments about saudi arabias abusive treatment of women and girls and 570 comments about israel and the settlements.
huffington posters sure have chosen to fight some odd battles

[TheBurdicks]

Care to comment on women's rights in conservative areas of Jewish Jerusalem under the Haredim, maybe about dress standards, or “mehadrin” separation? Let's be fair. No double standards, OK?

[Paula Ann]

I'm not surprised that it's a son of Faisl bin Saud that is advancing this cause. He was conservative but had common sense; Saud bin Faisal is also a credit to his dad.

[longtimegone]

The same arguments for why sports were injurious and dangerous for women were also common here before title 9, (and Republicans have had their sights set on repealing that); just look at some old photos of what passed for womens' basketball: long sleeves, long skirts, and only designated players were allowed to move beyond a small radius, because women, it was held, were not meant to run freely about. Once Saudi girls are playing sports, it shouldn't be long before clothing appropriate to the games themselves will evolve, as athletes want to win and overly restrictive clothing will preclude much of that. Once women develop pride in the what they can accomplish with their physical bodies, much else follows. If we are serious in our desire to see Saudi women freed up, we should applaud this, and swallow the burqa jokes; there are three threads ongoing for those.

[zukervati]

Sure, so long as they're in a Burqa .....