Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Makkah governor in favour of sports for girl students
The stand taken by Prince Khalid Al Faisal, governor of Makkah 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.
- AP
- Published: 19:41 June 24, 2009
Issue gets strong official endorsement
Riyadh: Appealing to a powerful Saudi prince, an eight-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 Khalid Al Faisal, governor of Makkah 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 Saudi Arabia. Saudi female athletes are not allowed to participate in the Olympics. Women's games and marathons have been cancelled when the powerful clergy get wind of them.
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.
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 Bin Abdul Aziz'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 per cent of Saudi men and 66 per cent 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 Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, opened a one-kilometre walkway inside a Jeddah 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.
Prince Khalid's remarks, which he made at the launch of a project on Monday aimed at developing cultural and sporting activities in the western city of Jeddah, 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.
According to local newspapers, the girl told Prince Khalid: "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 the Al Hayat newspaper.
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