Saudi Arabia to allow women’s sports clubs – paper

RIYADH, March 30 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is to license women’s sports clubs for the first time, al-Watan daily reported, in a major step for an ultra-religious country where clerics have warned against female exercise. Last year the conservative Islamic kingdom, where women must have permission from a male relative to take many big decisions, sent women athletes to the Olympics for the first time after pressure from international rights groups. Until now, women’s exercise facilities, including gyms, have had to be licensed by the Health Ministry and designated as “health centres”. …