The announcement from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in London that the country's Olympic Committee will "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify" at the Olympics should rightly be celebrated.

As Brunei and Qatar have already announced they will bring female athletes to the Games, it looks likely that after London, every country in the world will have been represented by a woman at the Olympics. Although it has been 116 years since the first modern Games, this should be applauded and recognised as a key landmark.

The Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) has been part of an international campaign demanding change which has had a direct impact. A senior Saudi official was quoted as saying: "Partly because of the mounting criticism we woke up and realised we had to deal with this."

However, as it stands, the announcement is more symbolic than revolutionary. It is being reported that as a result of the policy change Dalma Malhas (pictured below), a show jumper based outside of Saudi Arabia, will compete in London. But this should not be seen as an end point. Malhas is likely to be the centre of a media circus in London, and while she and this decision should be applauded, she should not be used to hide the continuing circumstances in Saudi where women have to overcome significant obstacles to train and play sport.


It is significant that it seems that she will be in London as a full member of the Saudi team as it had been rumoured that she would be forced to compete under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) flag. President Jacques Rogge should be congratulated for not accepting this compromise which would still have meant that Saudi Arabia was directly at odds with the Olympic Charter which reads: "Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, sex or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."

However, the true test of the Kingdom's appetite for genuine reform will come after London's Closing Ceremony, when the eyes of the world move on to the next hot topic. There needs to be substantial relaxation of the rules and regulations that obstruct female participation in sport in Saudi; an obvious starting point would be to overturn the ban on sport in girls' state schools. However, even that would not go far enough.

It seems that the Saudi position has moved from "steadfast objection" to "toleration", however it needs to move a further step into "active support". To ensure that there is more than a token Saudi female in Rio, substantial support structures, coaching programmes and competition opportunities need to be developed for girls and women at all levels of the sporting pyramid. We at WSFF will be looking to work with the IOC and other partners to ensure that the Saudi Government really invests in women's sport over the coming years.


This will not be easy; it is not just women's position in sport which is under scrutiny in a country where powerful religious and political forces continue to oppose further female integration in society. As the Saudi spokesman is quoted as saying: "It's very sensitive, King Abdullah is trying to initiate reform in a subtle way, by finding the right balance between going too fast or too slow."

So by no means does this decision signal a complete victory; however it is a very significant step forward and should be celebrated. Here's hoping that the performance of Malhas inspires many of her compatriots and reassures many of her doubters.

Tim Woodhouse is head of policy at the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation. Follow the organisation on Twitter here.