The Wall Street Journal
written by Ellen Knickmeyer in Riyadh and Iman Dawoud in London
Tuesday June 26, 2012
Saudi Arabia, the only major nation to ban women athletes from its national Olympics team, apparently reversed course amid international pressure on Sunday, saying that qualifying Saudi female athletes could compete in London under the auspices of the Saudi Olympic Committee.
"The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is looking forward to full participation" in the Olympic Games, the Saudi Embassy in London said. "The Saudi Olympic Committee will oversee participation of female competitors who qualify."
The announcement opens the way for Saudi women athletes to compete for the first time in the history of the adult Olympic Games.
The concession also marks a rare official broadening of the rights granted to women in one of the world's most conservative nations. Women in Saudi Arabia are forbidden to hold Saudi driver's licenses. The country's conservative religious bloc discourages women's sports and women's gyms, and the relatively few women's sports teams in the country typically can't compete before mixed public crowds of men and women.
But with the London Olympic Games due to start within weeks, only one female Saudi athlete, show-jumper Dalma Rushdi Malhas, is generally considered to be trained and ready to compete at the level of the Olympics.
Ms. Malhas in 2010 became the first Saudi woman to compete in the Youth Olympics, where she won a bronze.
In February, at age 20, Ms. Malhas told a conference on women and sports that she would one day compete alongside male Saudi Olympic athletes.
"I am determined to give my best to reach their level one day, and prove that all women athletes, all over the world, should be given equal opportunities," Ms. Malhas, who spoke with her hair uncovered rather than under the veil required of most Saudi women at home, said then.
Saudi officials had given mixed signals in the run-up to the London Games as to whether women would be allowed to compete, and in what capacity. Saudi newspapers in April quoted the head of the country's Olympic Committee as saying Saudi women could participate individually, rather than as part of the country's Olympic team.
Saudi King Abdullah, the country's monarch since 2005, has spoken supportively of giving women the right to drive, vote and serve in the country's advisory Shoura Council. Saudis often cite pressure from the nation's religious clerics and their followers as keeping the king from moving more quickly on expanding women's rights.
Some campaigners outside the kingdom had urged that Saudi Arabia be banned from the Games until it allowed Saudi women athletes to compete.
No comments:
Post a Comment