In the Name of the Game(s) – Muslim Female Athletes at the 2012 London Olympics

August 5, 2012 By

The 2012 London Olympics have had a strong focus on women: for the first time women will be competing in all sports and every country has sent at least one female athlete.

Zulfiya Chinshanlo, Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting. Image via the Toronto Star.

While this does all look mighty good on paper, “male” sports remain overall more popular and male athletes are often better paid, make use of better facilities (flying business vs. flying coach) and receive more face time than their female counterparts. And while much of the attention female athletes receive is focused on their looks (beach volleyball anyone?), the major decision-makers in sports are still predominantly male. (It should be added that 1984 gold medalist Nawal el Moutawakel is now the first woman from a Muslim nation in the role of Vice President of the International Olympic Committee.)

For Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, this will be the first time sending a female athlete to the Olympic Games. All three countries are, and this has been pointed out numerous times, Muslim-majority nations. Both Qatar and Brunei let the world know early on that they will be sending in female athletes for these Games. The tiny Asian nation of Brunei is sending one female this year, hurdler Maziah Mahusin, which does not seem like a lot, but in 2008 Brunei did not even participate in the Games, and the country has sent in only four athletes to previous Games. Mahusin is part of a delegation that consists of three athletes in total. Qatar has been more successful, sending sizeable teams to previous Games.  This year, Qatar has sent four female athletes, competing in four different disciplines, and says it will continue to promote women’s sports in the country. This is no surprise; Qatar has aspirations to host several major international sport events (lost the bid for the 2020 Olympics), and will host the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2022. [Read more...]

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Saudi Women’s Right to Kick Balls

July 5, 2012 By

With the summer Olympics fast approaching (and truly, what place says summer better than London), it was only natural that a bit of controversy would have to preface an event upon which the integrity of your otherwise boring country lies.

And who better to offer this controversy than Saudi Arabia?

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch launched a campaign “Let Them Play” aimed to pressure the Kingdom into allowing female athletic participation in the upcoming Olympics. The campaign led to a bit of a media frenzy and even solicited a response from the Head of the Saudi Olympic Committee, Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal. According to a report made first by Al-Watan in April of this past year, Prince Nawaf made it clear that in accordance with (the Saudi government’s understanding of) shari’a and with respect to the sensibilities of Saudis around the world, women would not be allowed to participate in any official capacity in the Olympics. They could, however, participate unofficially.  This came after the International Olympic Committee’s own assertion, in March, that it believed women would be allowed to participate at the games in London, which was based on Saudi presentation of the names of possible female athletes who could represent at the summer games. [Read more...]

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Kosovo’s Athletes at the London Olympics

July 3, 2012 By

While there has been much publicity about whether Saudi Arabia will send any female athletes to the London 2012 Olympics (the latest news is that they have allowed women to compete), there is another Muslim-majority country that definitely won’t be sending any female athletes. Actually, they won’t be sending any male athletes either, because this country does not exist. Or rather, it has only been recognised by 80 countries worldwide, and therefore does not exist in the eyes of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The country in question is Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The IOC is not the only body to not recognise Kosovo, neither does the U.N, due to Russian and Chinese opposition to Kosovan independence.

This leaves Kosovan sports people in a difficult situation. Ironically, the IOC made an exception for athletes from Yugoslavia and Macedonia in the 1992 Barcelona Games and allowed them to compete as independents, as Yugoslavia was then under UN sanctions and Macedonia hadn’t yet formed a National Olympic Committee. East Timorese were given permission in the 2000 Sydney Games to compete as independents, and in the upcoming Olympics, athletes from the former Netherlands Antilles will be permitted to do the same.

However, the IOC has firmly blocked this option for Kosovo, in a decision made at the same time as one not allowing female Saudi athletes to compete as independents either, possibly because letting the female Saudis do this would enable the Saudi National Olympic Committee to keep their ban on female athletes. [Read more...]

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