Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (IOC code: KSA; ) is the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

and the

National Paralympic Committee A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...

representing

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. Until the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, Saudi Arabia was one of three countries that had never had a female competitor at the games. The other two countries,

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

and

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

, also selected women to compete for the first time. On 20 December 2021, the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and the Saudi Arabian Paralympic Committee were merged into one.

2012 Summer Olympics

In April 2012 the head of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee ruled against sending female participants to the Summer Olympics in London. The Olympic committee had previously released a list of potential candidates for the games which included females. Saudi Arabia's refusal to send women to the Olympics put them at odds with the Olympic charter which states that "any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, sex or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement". The Olympic Committee's stance was later changed and it was announced that two female athletes, Sarah Attar (in the 800m) and will compete in the 800m and Wojdan Shaherkani (in the +78 kg Judo) judo would compete in London. Shaherkani was selected despite not meeting Olympic qualifying standards, by specific invitation of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC). Unlike most Olympic competitors, she did not win her spot through a national competition because Saudi Arabia strongly discourages women from participating in sport, and thus has no such competitions for women. Unlike other judoka in competition, who have attained black belts in the sport, she had only acquired a blue belt. The IOC president

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator, former athlete, and physician, who served as the eighth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 201 ...

said of Shahrkhani's and Attar's inclusion, "The I.O.C. has been working very closely with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and I am pleased to see that our continued dialogue has come to fruition." The Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee preferred not to promote Shahrkhani's participation. They also required that she "dress modestly, be accompanied by a male guardian and not mix with men" while in London for the 2012 Games. Additionally, her competition clothing has to comply with

Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...

. On 30 July 2012, Shahrkhani said that she would withdraw from the event if she was not permitted to wear her

hijab Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...

during bouts. Her father (who often speaks for her, partially because she does not know English) clarified that he wanted his daughter to compete, and that they wanted to make "new history for Saudi's women," but that she would not participate without a hijab. The next day the I.O.C. and the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) is the international governing body for judo, founded in July 1951. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 20 million people around the globe who practice judo, accordi ...

announced that agreement had been reached on a headscarf that she could wear.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee Sports organizations established in 1964

Oly Saudi Arabia at the Olympics 1964 establishments in Saudi Arabia Government agencies of Saudi Arabia

2012 Summer Olympics

See also

References

External links