By Mark Baber
May 20 – Mixed messages have been emerging over the last week regarding the controversial issue of allowing Saudi women to attend football games.
The new King Abdullah Sports City stadium, which opens in 2014, is expected to include family boxes, but the president of the Saudi Football Federation says the decision on whether to allow women into the stadium is not his to make.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy which applies a strict interpretation of Islam with many restrictions on women, among which is a ban on women attending sports events.
In response to outside pressure the restrictions were apparently lifted when Sweden played Saudi Arabia in 2006. And last week Arabic daily Alyaum reported as a first that a lady accompanied her husband to the Fourth National Championship of Arabian Horses at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahad stadium in the Saudi city of Al-Ahsa.
According to an unconfirmed report in the English-language Arab News on Friday, the President of the Saudi Football Federation, Ahmed Eid, said that a separate section for women and families would be built under the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium project in Jeddah.
Sultan Al Bilawi, a FIFA player’s agent, reportedly confirmed the new decision, adding: “This is a great step, which has been in the making for a long time and will allow a greater number of football fans that had previously been denied access to the matches.”
Talat Abu Shareeh, football secretary at the Ittihad Club in Jeddah argued women should be allowed to attend games. “They have a right as well. There are many children whose fathers have passed away or who are simply not with their families. They should not be denied the pleasure of watching football matches. With this decision, children can enter the stadiums with their mothers and sisters and share their passion for the game.”
However, caution is certainly in order regarding this issue, as in a report in al-Riyadh, Ahmed Eid (who is considered an ally of Saudi female athletes) is quoted as saying: “A decision like this is a sovereign decision. Neither me nor SAFF can make it. Only the political leadership in this country can make that decision.”
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