Pressure Builds for Saudi Women to Play Sports, Compete in 2012 Olympics

Saudi equestrian Dalma Malhas won a bronze medal in show jumping at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August 2010Beyond the Veil| In July the Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmed started a capaign called “No Women. No Play,” uring the International Olympic Committee to suspend Saudi Arabia from Olympic competition until it sent women to the games.

Ahmed believes that the position of Saudi women today is no different than that of blacks in apartheid-era South Africa. Ahmed asks why the IOC hasn’t suspended Saudi Arabia from the games as it did South Africa from 1964 until apartheid ended in the early 1990s.

A Spokeswoman for the IOC Emmanuelle Moreau, told the NYTimes via eimail that the organization had no intention of giving Saudi Arabia a deadline for women to participate in the games. via NYTimes

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