Saudi will not stop its women competing in Olympics: Reports

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia will not prevent its female citizens from competing in the Olympics, but it will not officially endorse them, the head of the country`s sporting authority was quoted as telling a newspaper.

The remarks may represent a compromise between Saudi Arabia`s religious hardliners and its social reformers amid international pressure for the conservative Islamic kingdom to enter a woman athlete for the first time at London 2012. "We don`t endorse any Saudi female participation in the Olympiad and international tournaments," al-Riyadh daily quoted Prince Nawaf bin Faisal, head of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, as saying. Bureau Report