Private Saudi girls’ high schools are being investigated by the education ministry for holding an “illegal” sports tournament, the Arab News reported.

The groundbreaking December 8 event involving 200 females from six Jeddah private high schools broke ministry rules against girls’ sports in schools, a ministry official told the newspaper.

“We don’t have any regulations that say that it’s okay for girls’ schools to hold sports classes or training,” said Ahmed Al-Zahrani, director of girls’ education in Jeddah.

“This tournament was held by these schools, something that has now led us to know about their illegal activities,” he said.

Women’s access to sports overall is tightly constricted in Saudi Arabia, which is governed according to an ultra-strict version of Islam. Women cannot participate in the Saudi Olympics team, and are not allowed to attend public football matches.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.