Filed under: Women's Sports, Europe
In 1962, the International Olympic Committee made a powerful condemnation of Apartheid by expelling South Africa. Half a century later, the IOC may make another powerful condemnation of another form of apartheid by expelling Saudi Arabia.
The
BBC reports that the IOC is putting increasing pressure on the government of Saudi Arabia to allow women to participate in sports -- and that the IOC could even tell Saudi Arabia that if the 2012 Games in London don't have Saudi women, they may have no Saudi athletes at all.
That would be a correct -- and long overdue -- step by the IOC. There's no reason that female athletes shouldn't compete in every country, and in every sport. The IOC can't force Saudi Arabia to reform, but it shouldn't abide Saudi Arabia until it does.
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