IOC working to prevent Saudi Arabia from leaving Olympics
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The International Olympic Committee said it is working to prevent Saudi Arabia from dropping out of the Olympic Games over a female judo athlete's headscarf.
The IOC said it will meet with Saudi Arabia national Olympic committee officials, London 2012 Olympic organizers and the International Judo Federation after the country threatened to drop out of the games unless Wujdan Shahrkhani is allowed to wear her headscarf while competing, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
"Yes we have heard that the Saudis are not happy and we will have an urgent meeting, certainly in the next two days," an IOC representative said.
Saudi Arabia ended months of controversy about a lack of female athletes a few weeks ago by announcing Shahrkhani would compete in judo and Sarah Attar would compete in track and field. However, those plans were put into question Thursday when the International Judo Federation said Shahrkhani would not be allowed to wear her headscarf during the competition.
Federation president Marius Vizer said that the decision resulted from safety concerns and "the principles and spirit of judo.
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If the IOC and International Judo Federation are sincere about wanting Shahrkhani to participate, they should allow her to compete with some kind of head covering.
In fact, head coverings are commonly seen in judo. One only needs to google "judo headgear" to see a variety of protective judo head coverings. These cover the back, top and sides of the head. The only additional part of the body covered by a headscarf would be the neck. What's the problem? Are the IOC and International Judo Federation creating a problem where there is none?
I'm sure that millions of women want to see Shahrkhani compete and will be cheering her on. And obviously she has the full support of her family. Go, Wujdan!
The purpose of the Hijab is to protect men from becoming aroused by the woman. It is to prevent him from sinning and if the muslim men want muslim women to wear this then why are they watching other women? Is this not causing them to sin as well? Maybe they should be banned from watching other women who are not in Hijab.
