SAOC considering prospect of sending female athletes to London 2012 Olympic Games
The International Olympic Committee has recently revealed that the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee has given in names of the potential female candidates to be a part of the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Saudi Arabian delegation came into the lime light after a recent report released by the Human Rights Watch that pointed out that the government of Saudi Arabia does not allow any female athletes to take part in the Olympic Games.
Not only that, the report also stated that no Saudi Arabian delegation in history has been able to feature female athletes up till this point. Saudi Arabia is not the only country that restrains its female athletes from taking part in the Games, Brunei as
well as Qatar have also never sent any female athletes to the Olympic Games.
After the Human Rights Watch released the report, the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games came under fire for taking a stance that was contradictory to its rules of non-discrimination. Neither the LOCOG nor the IOC had been pressing these countries
to take appropriate actions and send their female athletes to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
However, according to the recent developments, Qatar has committed that it will be sending its female athletes for the first time to take part in the London 2012 Games. In addition, the list that has been provided by Saudi Arabia includes the names of four
female athletes along with three female officials at the very least.
However, Saudi Arabia has not yet given the affirmative for the participation of its women in the Games as the idea is still under consideration.
The following statements were released from the IOC concerning the participation of women athletes from Saudi Arabia, “After the assessment of the level of each athlete by the IOC and the international federations concerned, a formal proposal will be submitted
to the next meeting of the IOC executive board in Quebec City in May. The IOC is confident Saudi Arabia is working to include women athletes and officials at the Olympic Games in London in accordance with the rules of the international federations.”
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