Organizers announce absence of religious bans at Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku

Participants of the 4^th Islamic Solidarity Games are free to choose the form of clothing, and there are no restrictions on attending the sports competitions by gender. This is reported by the Operation Committee of the Islamic Solidarity Games.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the competitions of the 4^th Islamic Solidarity Games began on May 8, while the official opening ceremony of the Games was held later, on May 12. The 4^th Islamic Solidarity Games will end on May 22.

According to a spokesperson of the Operation Committee for the Islamic Solidarity Games, the 2017 Games in Baku imposed no restrictions for men to attend competitions among women and vice versa. Photography is also not prohibited during the Games. The spokesperson has noted that during the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, female athletes are not required to wear clothes to cover their hands and heads, but they can do that.

Tofiq Tyurkel, an expert on religious issues of the news agency "Turan", believes that the question concerning the form of clothing of female athletes belongs to the field of traditions of a participating country and a state hosting the Islamic Solidarity Games. The expert has noted that the 1^st Islamic Solidarity Games held in Saudi Arabia in 2005 included no competitions for women at all. The 2^nd Islamic Solidarity Games were to be held in Iran in 2009. However, they did not take place, and one of the reasons for the failure was the lack of agreement concerning the participation of female athletes in sports competitions, reported Tofiq Tyurkel.

"The 3^rd Islamic Solidarity Games held in Indonesia in 2013 became more liberal, with the only restriction that athletes should not wear short clothing. At the Games in Indonesia, female athletes from a number of countries wore clothing covering their hands and heads. However, Azerbaijani female athletes wore their regular sports clothes," Tofiq Tyurkel told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.