The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in “advanced talks” with Saudi Arabia over the possibility of the Gulf kingdom sending females athletes to the London Games this summer.
IOC president Jacques Rogge said in comments published by The Associated Press that he is optimistic that Saudi Arabia will send female athletes to the Olympics for the first time this year.
Details of how many athletes and from which sport or sports are still being worked out, he told AP.
“We are still discussing with them on the practicalities, but we are optimistic that this is going to happen,” Rogge said.
“It depends on the possibilities of qualifications, standards of different athletes. We’re still discussing the various options.”
Saudi Arabia may not have women who meet Olympic qualifying standards, meaning the IOC and international sports federations would have to offer special invitations or find other solutions, AP reported.
A decision should be finalised in a month to six weeks, Rogge said.
Last month, US-based Human Rights Watch urged the IOC to take a harder line against Saudi Arabia over its refusal to send female athletes to the Games.
As the world prepares for the 2012 Olympics, HRW said the Saudi government was “systematically discriminating against women in sports and physical education… with no penalty from the international Olympic authorities”.
Human Rights Watch called on the IOC to make ending discrimination against women in sports in the kingdom a condition for Saudi Arabia’s participation in Olympic sporting events, including the 2012 London Games.
Saudi Arabia was one of three countries without any female athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, along with Qatar and Brunei.
Qatar announced last month that it will use IOC wild card invitations to send at least two women to the London Games.
If the talks with Saudi Arabia prove successful, all national Olympic committees in London will include women athletes for the first time in Olympic history, Rogge said.
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