Saudi women will be able to attend football matches for first time from Friday

Saudi women will be able to attend football matches for first time from Friday
Saudi Arabia has long barred women from sports arenas, due to strict laws on gender segregation.
2 min read
08 January, 2018
Saudi Arabia has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women. [Getty]

Saudi Arabia will open sports stadiums to women for the first time ever on Friday, in a landmark move for the conservative kingdom that will allow women to attend football matches.

The Gulf state has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women, has long barred women from sports arenas by strict rules on segregation of the sexes in public.

"The first match that women will be allowed to watch will be al-Ahli versus al-Batin on Friday 12 January," the ministry of information said in a statement on Monday.

It said women would also be able to attend a second match on the following day and a third one on 18 January.

The first match will be held in the capital Riyadh, the second in Jeddah on the Red Sea, and the third in the eastern city of Dammam.

In September, hundreds of women were allowed to enter a sports stadium in Riyadh, used mostly for football matches, for the first time to mark Saudi Arabia's national day.

Under Saudi Arabia's existing guardianship system, a male family member - normally the father, husband or brother - must grant permission for a woman's study, travel and a host of other activities.

In recent months the conservative kingdom has eased some of its most notorious restrictions on women, including the lifting of a driving ban - set to go into effect in June.

The easing of social controls comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks to repackage the oil-rich nation as more moderate and welcoming.

The powerful crown princes' Vision 2030 programme for a post-oil era stems partly from an economic motive to boost domestic spending on entertainment as the kingdom reels from an energy slump.

Saudis splurge billions of dollars annually on entertainment in the neighbouring tourist hubs of Bahrain and Dubai.

In December, Saudi Arabia announced it was lifting a decades-ban on cinemas with the first movie theatres expected to open in March.

Human rights groups have warned that the government crackdown on free speech and rival royals could undo much of this progress.