Saudi Arabia To Allow Women Into Stadiums

BY: JAMES M DORSEY

Saudi Arabia, under domestic and international pressure to grant women sporting rights, is creating separate stadium sections so that female spectators and journalists can attend soccer matches in a country that has no public physical education or sporting facilities for women.

The move announced by the recently elected head of the Saudi Football Federation, Ahmed Eid Alharbi, a storied player believed to be a reformer, also comes as soccer is emerging as a focal point of dissent in the conservative kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has been slow in granting limited enhancement of women’s rights in response to demands by activists. Women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving, travelling without authorization from a male relative and banned from working in a host of professions. Saudi Arabia’s religious police said last month that women would be allowed to ride bikes and motorbikes in recreational areas provided that they were properly dressed and accompanied by a male relative.

Saudi Arabia recently also announced that it would allow girl’s physical education in private schools as long as they do so in line with Islamic law. Yet, a five-year national sports plan, the kingdom’s first, currently being drafted does not make provisions for women’s sports. Saudi sources say the government is also for the first time considering licensing women’s soccer clubs.

Saudi Arabia last year sent under pressure from the International Olympic Committee women athletes, albeit expatriate ones, to the 2012 London Olympics, the first time Saudi women competed in an international tournament. The kingdom is also under pressure from the West Asian Football Federation, which earlier this year, issued guidelines to ensure that women have equal rights and opportunities in soccer.

Speaking at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, according to Saudi press reports, Mr. Alharbi hinted at the economic impact of allowing women to attend matches by saying that the creation of facilities for them would increase capacity at various stadiums by 15 percent. He said the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah would be the first to accommodate up to 32,000 women followed by the King Abdullah City stadium in the capital in 2014. Saudi Arabia, which enforces strict gender segregation, first announced in 2012 plans to upgrade the Jeddah stadium to enable women to enter.

Meanwhile, in the latest politically-loaded soccer incident, Al Ittihad SC of Jeddah, filed a complaint against Riyadh’s Al Hilal SC after an Al Ittihad official and fans tweeted and chanted racist remarks. Al Ittihad, which has a number of dark-skinned Saudi players, and Al Hilal are among Saudi Arabia’s top clubs.

“The last match between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad clearly revealed the indecency of Al-Ittihad players through two movements – one from ‘the monkey’ Fahd Al-Muwallad who did not stop proceeding when Muhammad Al-Qarni was injured in a jostle with him. Secondly, (they) did not fulfill the commitment to Majed Al-Murshidi, and did not greet or thank him,” Saud Al-Sahli, assistant director of public relations and announcer at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, said on Twitter. Al Hilal fans chanted Some Al-Hilal fans had shouted “Nigger, Nigger” during the match earlier this month. Messrs. Al-Muwallad and Al-Qarni are both dark-skinned.

Saudi newspapers warned that racist incidents threaten to rekindle religious sectarianism, tribalism, and regionalism in the kingdom, in part a reference to Shiite Muslim protests in the oil-rich Eastern Province. 

“The racist and sectarian utterances of sports fans should not be punished by fines alone, as some heads of the sports clubs are immensely rich and can pay the fines against their fans without feeling any burden. There should be harsher punishments, including a ban on the fans from entering the stadiums, reducing the club’s league points or even downgrading it to a lower division,” the Saudi Gazette said in an editorial.

Members of the royal family with positions in Saudi soccer or who own clubs have been repeatedly in the past year in the firing line of disgruntled fans. A Facebook page entitled Nasrawi Revolution demands the resignation of Prince Faisal bin Turki, the owner of storied Riyadh club Al Nasser FC and a burly nephew of King Abdullah who sports a mustache and chin hair. A You Tube video captured Prince Faisal seemingly being pelted and chanted against as he rushed off the soccer pitch after rudely shoving a security official aside.

The campaign against Prince Faisal follows last year’s unprecedented resignation of Prince Nawaf bin Feisal as head of the Saudi Football Federation (SFF), the first royal to be persuaded by public pressure step down in a region where monarchial control of the sport is seen as politically important.

Prince Nawaf’s resignation led to the election of Mr. Alharbi, a commoner, in a country that views free and fair polling as a Western concept that is inappropriate for the kingdom. Prince Nawaf retained his position as head of the Saudi Olympic Committee and the senior official responsible for youth welfare that effectively controls the SFF.

Nevertheless, the resignation of Prince Nawaf and the campaign against Prince Faisal gains added significance in a nation in which the results of premier league clubs associated with various members of the kingdom’s secretive royal family are seen as a barometer of their relative status, particularly at a time that its septuagenarian and octogenarian leaders prepare for a gradual generational transition.

Said a Saudi journalist, summing up the mood among fans and many other Saudis: “Everything is upside down. Revolution is possible. There is change, but it is slow. It has to be fast. Nobody knows what will happen.”

http://mideastsoccer.blogspot.ca/2013/05/saudi-arabia-to-allow-women-into.html

Samina Baig: First Pakistani woman to scale Mount Everest

Samina and her brother completed their trek up Mount Everest. PHOTO: theyouthrepublic.com

Mountaineer Samina Baig has become the first Pakistani woman to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain with a peak at 8,848 metres.

Baig completed the climb to the summit at around 7:30am local time with her brother Mirza Ali, who becomes the third and youngest Pakistani male to scale the mountain.

Nepal Mountaineering Department official Tilak Padney said that 35 foreigners accompanied by 29 Nepalese Sherpa guides reached the peak after climbing all night from the highest camp on South Col — the pass between Everest and a neighboring mountain.

Ali (29) and Baig (21) are natives of Shimshal village in Hunza valley, Pakistan. Ali has been climbing since age 15, and he was Baig’s mentor, guide and support.

On his personal blog, Ali stated that this climb was the “First Pakistani Gender Equality Mt Everest Expedition” .

Samina Baig and her brother climbing Everest. PHOTO: Pakyouthoutreach

Description of climb

From Mirza Ali’s blog 

“Once at base camp, we will begin our acclimatization trips. This involves climbing to Camp 1, staying the night, then returning to base camp to rest, then climbing to Camp 1 and staying the night and climbing on to Camp 2 and staying the night, before returning to base camp and so on up to Camp 3.

Once our acclimatisation trips have finished, and assuming we are  in good health  and super fit physically and mentally, we’ll be ready to try for the summit, which should be mid May. We will wait for a good weather forecast or ‘window’ for the possible summit  attempt.”

Pakistan, India flags fly together

Indian twin sisters Tashi and Nugshi were also at the top of the Everest with Baig and Ali. By hoisting Pakistani and Indian flags side by side, the four South-Asians hoped to spread the message of Pak-India peace and friendship.

Samina Baig with Tashi and Nugshi during Acclimatization phase

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/551508/samina-baig-first-pakistani-woman-to-scale-mount-everest/ 

Saudi woman tops Everest as country warms to women in sports

(AFP) –

KATHMANDU — Saudi woman Raha Moharrak reached the summit of Nepal's Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, in a first for the conservative Muslim kingdom where women's sports are severely restricted, tourism officials said on Sunday.

The 25-year-old reached the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) summit early Saturday morning with a party of foreign mountaineers and Nepalese guides.

"She reached the peak with 12 other members of the expedition," Gyanendra Shrestha, an official with Nepal's tourism ministry, told AFP from Everest Base Camp.

"We have been able to contact her and she is very exhausted and now resting," Hassan Moharrak, the climber's father, told AFP, adding that the family was very happy with her achievement.

Moharrak's feat is backdropped by her country's gradual warming to the idea of women participating in sports.

In a historic first for the country, two female athletes participated in the 2012 London Olympic games.

Early this month, the government allowed some girls in private schools to participate in athletics but requested the schools ensure girls wear "a covering and decent outfit" for sport activities in "suitable areas".

According to international watchdog Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that still effectively bars girls from taking part in sports in government schools.

"It's terrific a Saudi woman has been able to reach the summit of Everest," Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, told AFP.

"But it's worth remembering that meanwhile millions of women and girls in Saudi Arabia are still denied the right to climb in a gym or play any sports, including in state schools -- as a matter of government policy."

Moharrak's Everest expedition, dubbed "Arabs with Altitude", undertook the quest to raise money for education charities in Nepal.

Hundreds of climbers will attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest peak in the coming days as a fair weather window has opened.

This year, which marks the 60th anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's maiden Everest summit, has been marred by a brawl that broke out between European climbers and Nepalese Sherpas high on the mountain in April.

Kuwait launches sports clubs for women

Photo Credit: www.thejakartapost.com

As part of a new initiative launching sports leagues for women, al-Shatti and her teammates from Salwa Al-Sabah club downed Qadsiya club 63-13 in a game that attracted several hundred men and female fans. The initiative to launch basketball, table tennis and athletic leagues for the first time in Kuwait illustrates how the landscape for women athletes is improving across the Persian Gulf where hard-liners have long opposed women playing sports.

Several of the players, in deference to the conservative Muslim culture that is common across the Persian Gulf, wore leggings and covered their heads with hijab. Others, however, wore shorts and T-shirts.

"A competition like this should have happened a long time ago," said al-Shatti, who has played in tournaments overseas and only heard about the league in her home country while playing in neighboring Bahrain. "But I am glad it finally took place. We've been trying to do this for a long time and they have promised that more sports will be included in future leagues."

Helped by government support, increased education and erosion of traditional values, football leagues for girls in the Gulf have started up in Qatar and United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia - which long barred girls from playing any sports - recently announced it would allow sports in private schools as long as they abide by the rules of Shariah, or Islamic law.

Saudi Arabia's decision is part of a wider package of reforms targeting women with the aim of ending discriminatory practices that have contributed to a host of health problems, including obesity and diabetes. The private schools' announcement also follows a decision last year in the kingdom to allow two female athletes to compete in the London Olympic Games following months of intense pressure from the International Olympics Committee.

Still, women's sports remain nearly an underground activity in the kingdom, which is home to Islam's holiest site in Mecca. Only the largest female university in the kingdom - Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University - has a swimming pool, tennis court and exercise area for its students. No other university in Saudi Arabia has sports facilities for female students and staff.

Women are also bound by strict rules when it comes to their attire, so they cannot, for example, be seen by men while jogging in sweat pants. Female athletes cannot register for sports clubs or league competitions. They are banned from entering national trials, making it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions.

Kuwait is typical of the struggle women have endured in the Gulf.

The 1970s were described as the golden era where women were allowed to freely participate in sports in Kuwait, according to Naeema al-Sabah, the head of the Women's Sports Federation. But in the ensuing decades, the influence of Islamic hard-liners grew in the country and sports for women all but disappeared. Hard-liners believe that sports will promote immoral behavior and uniforms inappropriately reveal female bodies.

The low point came a few years back when a Kuwaiti women's football team was publicly denounced after returning from playing a regional tournament in neighboring United Arab Emirates.

"We're taking baby steps toward progress," al-Sabah said. "As with any society that is religiously strict, we need to test the waters and take small steps. Everyone in Kuwait now values sports. You see people walking and jogging every day. There is this increasing interest in playing sports in general."

Al-Shatti said the best sign that things are changing was the number of women and girls who turned out for the basketball game. A music teacher who also cycles and jogs with her husband, al-Shatti is only hoping to get more chances to play.

"It felt like the first step toward a better future for sports for us here in Kuwait," she said after her team's victory.

Source: http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sport/2013/05/10/kuwait-launches-sports-clubs-for-women

Saudi Arabia allows schoolgirls to play sport

Saudi Arabia has given girls at private schools the right to play sport, the education ministry said Sunday, in a step aimed at easing restrictions on women in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
 
The ministry directive published in Saudi newspapers says that private schools for girls have been told to "put into effect a number of rules to regulate sports".
 
The measure appears to have left out the majority of students at state schools.
 
The ministry has, however, requested the schools ensure girls wear "a covering and decent outfit" for sport activities in "suitable areas".
 
It also demanded that female Saudi coaches get the priority in employment at such facilities.
 
The ministry pointed out that some private schools were already offering physical education, but without any regulations to follow.
 
The issue of Saudi women in sport came under the spotlight during the 2012 London Olympic Games, when the Muslim kingdom bowed to pressure and sent female athletes to compete for the first time.
 
At that time, Human Rights Watch said that despite the participation of two Saudi women at the Olympics, millions of women in the Gulf state were still banned from sports.
 
Saudi women remain banned from driving, and have to cover from head to toe when in public, among other restrictions.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/saudi-arabia-allows-schoolgirls-to-play-sport.aspx?pageID=238&nID=46240&NewsCatID=352

Will This Never End? "No Turbans On The Pitch"

By: Shireen AHMED

In the last couple of months, I have written extensively and covered the issue of IFAB lifting the ban on hijabs on the pitch. As a footballer who chooses to wear hijab this issue was terribly personal and very important to me.

I have been playing for decades and am elated that Muslim players may now be included in international and FIFA sanctioned competition.

Even more recently, I was thrilled to find out that Quebec had rescinded and was going to be the last province to allow hijab on the pitch. For a variety of reasons the Quebec Soccer Federation (QSF) had been most reluctant to accept the ruling despite the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) encouraging lifting of the ban; as most other provinces had already done.

Fortunately, they could no longer pretend that their decisions were based on player safety and equality when IFAB struck down the ban in July 2012 and a FIFA-approved hijab was designed by a woman living in Montreal.

I was happy for the sport and for the opportunity for more women to participate in the beautiful game. I figured that the issue of headcoverings in the football world was now moot.

Not exactly.

Late last week, I discovered that, once again, Quebec has banned headcoverings from the pitch. Not hijabs but to my disgust...Sikh turbans.  

In traditional form Quebec has disallowed sikh turbans from the pitch despite directives from the the CSA to allow them. The QSF is a provincial body that governs the sport in its’ province. Some have questioned why the CSA can’t simply overrule the provincial body as they have been advocating for equal access for all players.

Unfortunately, the CSA can not interfere in issues of sport as they fall under provincial jurisdiction. CSA is the national body that is in charge of National programs and teams and represents Canada on the international level to FIFA and in CONCAF.

Not only will QSF not issue a statement, they refuse to address the issue before registration of the summer season begins.

The issue of the inclusion of religious clothing in sport has been percolating in Quebec for awhile. The impermissibility of hijab on the pitch garnered much attention in mainstream media in recent years since the Iran National Women’s squad was rejected from Olympic qualifying matches in June 2011, due to their hijabs.

At the same time in Quebec, there was a young Sikh player who was barred from playing with his turban. The incidents were not widely reported and infrequent.

And remained unresolved.

In May 2012, a teenager from a Montreal suburb registered to play in Lasalle.

Although he had already been playing for ten years, he was informed that he would have to lose his turban and play with a FIFA-sanctioned hairnet or not register at all. “It’s pretty degrading to do that because the whole point of turban is to cover your head” said Aneel Singh Samra.

He got his money back and did not play.

It seems as if this will be his fate and those of other Sikhs in Quebec this summer. Another season lost where they can’t play due to their decision to wear a headcovering out of religious observation.

Ironically, the Federal Minister of Sport in Canada is a Sikh from the riding of Bramalea-Gore-Malton. Minister Bal Singh Gosal has yet to issue a statement on this topic.

I think it is imperative that he, as the elected represented now holding the portfolio for State Sport in Canada contact the appropriate authorities of football in Quebec and request that this matter be resolved quickly.

FIFA must also address this issue and clarify that there is no issue for injury (the cited problem in the case of hijab) as the traditional turbans to not cover the neck of players.

Furthermore, there is no obvious “advantage” for turban wearers for heading the ball. Regardless of which as heading the ball is not obligatory in football. 

This is a technicality that the QSF is hiding behind.

A colleague and friend of mine, Baljit Rihal explained: “Usually, Sikh boys (with unshorn hair) adorn a bandana like headcovering called a 'Patka'. This in effect is a mini turban and poses absolutely no safety threat to either the player or their opponents. Sikhs have been playing football across the world for many years without this ever being subject to a ban. I was born and brought up in London, UK and wore the patka whilst playing through school and even whilst trialling at county level football - the head covering was never an issue.” Rihal, who is founder of the prestigious Asian Football Awards, an initiative that recognizes the achievements of South Asians in Football, is clearly disappointed with the decision.

“Football is a game that brings communities together. The actions of the Quebec Soccer Federation can only be described as ludicrous and an attempt to exclude a community that have given so much to Canada. The Canadian Soccer Association has issued directives that Sikh's wearing the turban should not be banned from playing - it is beyond me why the QSA is not adhering to the country's policy. That is, in effect, like a UK County Football Association over ruling guidelines from The English FA,” he adds.

Until QSF issues a full statement explaining their reasons for banning the turban, it seems that young players are in an unfair limbo. They can’t fully contest a case if they don’t know what that case is.

The issue of proper uniform and kits in sport stinks more of political issue laced with xenophobia than of the safety and equality of players.

Is it necessary for a Sikh designer to create a particular prototype for Punjabi players?

How many more years of wasted time will continue until this bigotry and unnecessary prevention of participation is stopped?

World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) President Prem Singh Vinning issued a very sincere statement regarding the ban: “We fail to see what is so complicated about allowing Sikh children to play with their peers. What purpose does the QSF restriction on the turban serve? There is no conceivable justification for this. If there are genuine concerns, we are open to dialogue but if this situation is not quickly resolved, the real victims will be the children”.

As a footballer who wears a headcovering and was subject to rules that excluded me from playing with recognized clubs, I will not tolerate further prejudice and discrimination from Quebec on an issue that should have been shelved many years ago.

Football is for all of us.

crossposted at http://footynions.com/