International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge cannot guarantee “100 percent” that female athletes from Saudi Arabia will compete at the London Olympics, although he remains optimistic the Gulf kingdom will send women to the Games for the first time.
Rogge said in an interview on Wednesday that the IOC was discussing the “operational details” with Saudi officials for ending their four-decade-old policy of sending only men to the Games.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei have never included women in their Olympic teams. While Qatar and Brunei have committed to sending female athletes to London, whether Saudi Arabia will do the same — and, if so, how many women will be included — remains uncertain just three weeks before the start of the London Games.
“I remain cautiously optimistic on the participation of women,” Rogge said. “I cannot guarantee it 100 percent today. I cannot say how many [athletes] because I don’t know. We are still discussing operational details with the authorities.”
He declined to elaborate, but both sides have been working on identifying a few Saudi women who could go to the Olympics.
“I will tell you when I’m sure 100 percent,” Rogge said. “I will not speak out before.”
Saudi Olympic Committee president Prince Nawaf said in April that female participation had not been approved by the country’s leaders and that Saudi-based women traveling to London would be contrary to the kingdom’s traditions and norms.
However, a statement released by the Saudi embassy in London last week said female athletes who qualify could be allowed to participate.
Athletes in judo and in track and field are considered possibilities.
Saudi Arabia is a deeply traditional and conservative Muslim society, and women are severely restricted in public life and are not allowed to drive.
Because Saudi women may not meet the international qualifying standards, the IOC can grant them Olympic entry based on “special circumstances.”
On a separate issue, Rogge said the IOC has not received any notification that the head of Syria’s Olympic committee has been denied a visa for the London Games by the British government.
An official involved in the Olympic movement said last month that Britain refused to give General Mowaffak Joumaa a visa because of his links to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“We don’t know anything about that,” Rogge said by telephone from Lausanne, Switzerland. “We have not heard anything, not a word. We have not been officially notified about such a decision.”
London organizers are required to notify the IOC when accredited Olympic personnel are rejected entry.
“If we get a notification, we definitely would ask the government to tell us why the person has been denied entry and then we’ll look at it,” Rogge said.
The Syrian government’s crackdown on an uprising has killed thousands of people and led to broad sanctions and an EU travel ban on al-Assad and other top officials. Joumaa is not on the list.
Rogge said Syria’s national Olympic committee remains recognized by the IOC and Syrian athletes will compete under their national flag in London.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was