Saudi Arabia Considers Allowing Women's Sport Clubs, According To Daily Newspaper

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has set up a ministerial committee to consider allowing women's sports clubs, al-Watan daily newspaper reported on Saturday, despite opposition to female exercise from religious conservatives.

Abdullah al-Zamil, a senior official from the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, the top Saudi sporting body, said the committee was being formed to end the "chaos" surrounding women's sports clubs which are effectively unregulated, Watan reported.

"The mission of the committee is focused on building a system for these clubs," the newspaper, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family, reported Zamil as saying.

In the austere desert kingdom, powerful clerics have long argued against women playing sports or doing physical exercise, forcing female gyms to be designated as expensive "health centres".

A member of the top clerical body in 2009 said girls should not play sports lest they lose their virginity by tearing their hymens. State-run girls schools are banned from doing sports, but private girls schools are allowed to offer sports classes.

The General Presidency of Youth Welfare only regulates male clubs and its head was recently quoted saying he would not endorse Saudi women athletes at the 2012 Olympics.

Human Rights Watch has called on the International Olympic Committee to bar the kingdom from the London games unless it fields a woman athlete.

The most likely woman candidate to compete under the Saudi flag, equestrian Dalma Malhas, represented the kingdom at the junior Olympics in Singapore in 2010, but without official support or recognition.

Saudi women are barred from driving and need the permission of a close male relative to work, travel or open a bank account, but King Abdullah last year said they could vote in municipal elections, the country's only public polls.

Saudi Arabia's only female deputy minister, Noura al-Fayez, has written to HRW saying there is a plan to introduce physical education at girls' state schools. (Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Sophie Hares)

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Comments

[AGO2]

04:59 PM on 05/01/2012

Last summer I saw a Muslim family at the beach: 1 teenage boy and one younger allowed to run around free with their shirts off and shorts enjoying the sun and swimming. The mother and 2 teenage girls were forced to wear the full burqa (sans face mask) in the steaming sun and ALSO IN THE WATER (the weight of a sogging burqa could drown somebody). I felt so bad for them. A much smaller 3 year old girl was allowed to wear shorts and a t-shirt in the water. I wated to yell at her "run, run while you can!" What a stifling culture for women while the men are given carte blanche to do as they please!

[pete cole]

03:05 PM on 05/01/2012

Another giant step towards the 18th century

[simonbugatti]

09:41 AM on 05/01/2012

What a great step forward - I imagine the women will have to stay out of sight and still wear burqas or other coverup gear when playing sports?

[pete cole]

02:49 PM on 05/01/2012

Beach volley ball in a burqa, the mind boggles:-)

[schnauzergirl]

03:00 PM on 05/01/2012

As long as its a womens only facility and out of view of men, they can where whatever they like. That probably irritates the hardliners too.

[Wisdo]

05:05 AM on 05/01/2012

why do we continue to support this hardline wahabist dictatorship?

[Liban CZ]

08:20 AM on 05/01/2012

Why not?

[Wisdo]

09:03 AM on 05/01/2012

Because it makes us look like two- faced hypocrites. And the problem with looking like two faced hypocrites is that it makes it even harder to persuade people that we are not two faced hypocrites when in fact we are.

We will support any dictatorship that 'plays ball' while roundly condemning the dictatorial practices of countries that do not. By supporting SA we are supporting the country that most of the 911 hijackers came from. We are supporting a system that institutionalises blanket hatred against the west, indulges in slavery, oppresses minorities in a way we havent since the 19th century and provides funding for many entities hostile to the US. Saudi Arabia is not your friend. Its leadership are thugs of the highest order and nothing good comes of supporting thugs.

[White Tea]

08:22 PM on 04/30/2012

"Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to be muslims..."

:)

[Kenz300]

03:55 PM on 04/30/2012

The religious schools teach hate and intolerance.

The whole middle east uses religion to oppress women.

[schnauzergirl]

03:02 PM on 05/01/2012

"The whole middle east uses religion to oppress women"

Visited the south central US lately? Same problem.

[GotPC]

12:40 PM on 04/30/2012

They have women in KSA?!!!!!!

[Gui Montag]

10:56 AM on 04/30/2012

The burka doesn't bother me. The fact that only women have to wear it does. If men had to wear clothes equally ridiculous and cumbersome, like the Amish do, I wouldn't mind so much.

[piul05]

12:29 PM on 04/30/2012

They wear abayas in Saudi Arabia.

And the men's clothes (a "Dishdashah" or "Thoub"), plus the three-piece headgear, doesn't look that comfortable either.

[Gui Montag]

12:57 PM on 04/30/2012

Okay I was referring to burkas outside of Saudi Arabia.

[Gui Montag]

12:58 PM on 04/30/2012

Also the men's clothes don't cover their faces.

[piul05]

12:39 PM on 04/30/2012

typo: *don't*

[westral]

09:00 AM on 04/30/2012

As everyone would be dressed literally from head to toe in a black garment that would have to rule out team games, it might make deciding the identity of the winner a bit hard as well (they could swap numbers and no-one would be able to tell)

[ironicisntit]

01:37 PM on 04/30/2012

Actually, everything is completely segregated in Saudi, schools and sports facilities included. Women's facilities and schools, at least the ones I went to, are surrounded by 12-15ft cement walls. I'm sure PE at a girls schools would not be visible to the passerby. Sports complexes are often indoors or enclosed by a wall. Women did not wear abayas for sports, but no men were allowed anywhere near. My 5 year old sons were too old to go tho the women's pool/tennis/gym with me.That's life in Saudi.

[Saudi Medic]

08:00 AM on 04/30/2012

I read the same thing in the book, "Paramedic to the Prince" Written by an American Paramedic who worked for King Abdullah. In it he writes about how the religious conservatives, shut down a womens only gym in Jeddah for fear the girls would no longer be virgins due to all the sports activity. I loved the book. It was a great insight into Saudi Arabia

[ironicisntit]

01:39 PM on 04/30/2012

Ahh but they have a popular surgery in Saudi to "repair" any girl before her wedding day. Everyone knows, women are only as good as their hymens. Ridiculous in 2012.

[BG-back]

07:21 AM on 04/30/2012

M$M coverage of oil rich gulf royalties is hilarious to those who actually see the obvious slant...

There is no mention of $@udi/Q@tari funding of the right wing Ikhwan and the arming of the "Free $yrian army". No mention of the $udanese man who was recently, and publicly, crucified, no mention of the possible involvement in 9// and the fact that this involvement was frantically covered up by the likes of Philip Zelikow (wonder what both parties had to hide), nothing about the 3gyptian man arrested for insulting the king (and the subsequent protests in 3gypt)

http://www.thearabdigest.com/2012/04/saudi-arabia-crucifies-sudanese.html
http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-closes-embassy-egypt-following-protests-150522494.html
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/08/9-11-2011-201108?printable=true

[JackTheSkipper]

11:20 PM on 04/29/2012

What's the difference between a Muslim woman's dress and a nun's dress?

[JeanRR]

09:15 AM on 04/30/2012

Very little. They both have the goal of deleting a woman's identity.

[Wisdo]

05:07 AM on 05/01/2012

Nuns choose to be nuns.

[JackTheSkipper]

07:12 PM on 05/01/2012

Alas! the act of "choosing" ends right at that point.

[JackTheSkipper]

11:17 PM on 04/29/2012

Even a country as backward as Saudi Arabia wants to move forward. But the republicans in US want to take the country back to the middle ages.

[sLUCIDITy]

09:50 PM on 04/29/2012

"Saudi Arabia May Consider Allowing Women's Sport Clubs"

Oh isn't that enlightened of them . . .

[Rita Andrew]

09:01 AM on 04/29/2012

yikes what a horrible way to live

[JeanRR]

09:16 AM on 04/30/2012

Read up on Christian Dominionism. It is their vision for American, minus Mohammad, of course.

[White Tea]

06:26 PM on 04/30/2012

2 wrongs don't make either right.