Women and Athletics

I blogged about a topic similar to this blog earlier in the year.  This blog deals with Women in other countries, more specifically the Middle East, and Athletics. I guess this particular subject interests me because it’s nothing for females to be athletes at the collegiate or professional level in America and many other countries but in some countries women are not allowed to participate. I love sports and athletics are really important to me and the fact the people aren’t allowed to participate because of gender or other issues is difficult for me to accept.

There are two specific events that have occurred that have shown there may be some progress with women in athletics in the Middle East. First, a ban on headscarves has been overturned for Iranian women, and second, two other Middle Eastern countries have allowed women athletes to participate in the 2012 Olympics in London this year.

According to The Independent “Last year, Iran was prevented from playing their 2012 Olympic second round qualifier against Jordan because they refused to remove their hijabs before kickoff.” FIFA officials decided just before the kickoff that the tight headscarves the Iranian players were wearing to cover their hair broke the association’s dress code, according to the Washington Post. This ruined their chance of qualifying for the Olympics in London this summer. The International Football Association Board, world soccer's rule-making body, unanimously agreed to overturn a ban on the headscarf. For this decision to be made it took “the intervention of a Jordanian prince, Premier League footballers – and a new Velcro-based design.” 

The hijabs are held together with pins which made it a concern for injury, but now with the new Velcro-based design, injury will be less likely. The team that designed the new headscarf said they were in line with guidelines set by the football association. It was also said that long hair would cause more of an injury than the headscarves. The decision has will been ratified in July.

Other Muslim female athletes however, have a better chance at participating in the summer games this year because Brunei and Saudi Arabia have decided to send their first ever female athletes to the Olympics, according to the Atlantic. Maziah Mahusin has been formally nominated by Brunei to perform in the games and the Crowned Prince of Saudi Arabia announced that women are allowed to compete in "sports that suit the nature and decency of women and don't conflict with Islamic law teachings," and “equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas is a possible candidate” for the Saudi Arabia team.

The decisions made by the soccer authorities and the Saudi government are caused by a combination of outside pressure, regional upheaval, women's demands, and support--or at least acquiescence--from within the Islamic world. Human Rights Watch released a report last month that forcefully criticizes "an effective ban on women's participation in national competitive sports" in Saudi Arabia. The report explains that “a shortage of physical education classes for girls and scant opportunities for women to compete in individual or team sports, whether informally within the Kingdom or in an official capacity abroad. It points out that Saudi Arabia lags behind even Brunei and Qatar since, unlike those countries, it has never sent female athletes to any regional or international competition.”

I hope that countries where people are not allowed to participate in athletics continue to make progress in allowing them to perform. We are lucky to have the opportunity to play sports and be involved in athletics here in America.