Saudi female Olympian ban

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said yesterday he will keep up the pressure on Saudi Arabia, who has once again refused to send a women’s team to the Olympic Games.

“We are always talking to Saudi Arabia (about sending a women’s team to the London Games) and we expect a very rapid conclusion,” said the IOC’s Rogge.

Equestrian jumping contestant Dalma Malhas, 18, is likely to be Saudi Arabia’s only female athlete at the London event after the head of the Saudi Olympic Committee ruled out sending women athletes.