HRW noted that the government should formally clarify its position on sports for girls in government-funded schools and announce a national strategy to promote sports for girls at all levels of education.

The official Saudi Press Agency announced on May 4, 2013, that female students enrolled in private girls’ schools could take part in sports so long as they wear “decent clothing” and are supervised by female Saudi instructors within the tight regulations of the country’s Education Ministry.

“All of Saudi Arabia’s women and girls should be able to enjoy the social, educational, and health benefits of taking part in sports,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “If the government can take down this barrier for private schools, it should give girls and women in publicly funded schools the same benefit.”

Although two women competed for Saudi Arabia at the Olympics in 2012 for the first time, women and girls are still not free to practice sports in the kingdom. The government should follow its announcement about private schools with a removal of public school barriers and an announcement of a strategy to make it happen, Human Rights Watch said.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that still effectively bars girls from taking part in sport in government schools. There is no state sports infrastructure for women, with all designated buildings, sports clubs, courses, expert trainers, and referees limited to men. Discrimination against girls and women in sport still takes place at multiple levels in the kingdom.

The Saudi authorities should extend the health and educational benefits that the Education Ministry cited to girls in public schools as well as private schools, Human Rights Watch said.

The government has carried out encouraging recent modest reforms for women, Human Rights Watch said, including on combatting domestic violence and licensing a female lawyer trainee.

But as Human Rights Watch has documented in the report “Perpetual Minors,” the “guardianship” system and strict gender segregation limit women’s ability to take part in public life. Under this discriminatory system, girls and women are forbidden from traveling, conducting official business, or undergoing certain medical procedures without permission from their male guardians. All women remain banned from driving in Saudi Arabia.

Human Rights Watch has long urged the International Olympic Committee to use its leverage with Saudi Arabia to press its sports leaders to conform to the values and principles of the Olympic Movement by adopting policies that will benefit all Saudi women and girls. These include establishing a timeline and benchmarksfor introducing physical education as a subject for girls in public and private schools.

“The world cheered when Saudi women shared the Olympic spotlight, but millions of women and girls in Saudi Arabia are still stuck on the sidelines,” Worden said. ”This is a moment for the global sporting community to press Saudi Arabia to allow sports for women and girls, once and for all.”

Al Hasawi announced the takeover had been successful last night on his Twitter account. “I can officially announce that the acquisition of Nottingham Forest is complete,” he said, the newspaper writes.

In an official statement, yesterday, Fazaz, Abdulaziz and Omar Al Hasawi said, inter alia: “We are delighted to announce that we have just completed our acquisition of Nottingham Forest Football club from the Estate of the late Nigel Doughty.

It is an honor and privilege for the Al Hasawi Family to assume control of this great Club steeped in history and with the outstanding legacy left by its previous owner Nigel Doughty.

We know there are challenging times ahead of us to bring the club back to its glory days and we look forward with excitement towards a successful future…”

“The presence of extremist groups, including neo-Nazi and skinhead groups, in sporting events is a matter of serious concern,” the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Mutuma Ruteere, said in a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Neo-Nazi symbols, slogans and banners displayed during football matches and racist chants against players or supporters of African origin should not be tolerated,” he noted, pointing to recent incidents of violence and racism during the European Union Football Associations’ (UEFA) championships as evidence that racism in sport is a serious problem.

“I call upon States to intensify the fight against racism in sport and to strengthen the role of sports in promoting cultural diversity,” he said. “In particular, in light of the upcoming Olympics it is crucial that further preventive measures be taken to avoid racist incidents during this event which is going to reach out to all regions of the world.”

The Special Rapporteur warned that impunity for crimes motivated by racism, xenophobia and intolerance encourages recurrence of such acts. He called on States to ensure that thorough and impartial investigations into these crimes are promptly carried out, that those responsible are prosecuted, and that victims have effective access to remedies.

Mr. Ruteere also warned of incendiary rhetoric from political parties, noting that the rise in extremist political parties, movements and groups continues to pose major challenges, particularly in the context of the current economic and financial crisis.

“In this context, vulnerable groups have been made the scapegoats for the rise in unemployment and State debt, and labelled a threat to the standard of living of the general population by extremist political parties,” he said.

In addition, Mr. Ruteere expressed particular concern over traditional political parties that have embraced an openly racist, xenophobic and nationalistic rhetoric.

The Human Rights Council is currently holding its 20th regular session, which ends on 6 July. Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

In a bid to enhance public protection and provide concrete support for Member States, over the last few months the Commission has been providing technical support and guidance to the Polish Police and Border Guards in training and developing the methodology for the use of mobile chemical and bio detection equipment to scan for explosives and terror weaponry at Polish stadiums and airports.

It is the first time that mobile detection equipment for explosives, chemical and biological threats have been deployed in the EU during such a high profile public event.

“This very first detection trial will provide valuable information for future use of such technology during large public events. With all eyes focusing on the ball, security at stadiums becomes all the more essential. The Euro 2012 must be a celebration where everybody can feel safe,” said Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs.

The use of technologically up-to-date mobile chemical and bio detection units will enhance security arrangements without additional constraints for football fans who will travel to Poland and gather in stadiums to support their teams.

Football fans can be scanned at the entrance of the stadium where usual security and ticket checks are carried out. The detection equipment, in the form of light weight portable electrical devices, will yield a result in real time, indicating whether any threatening substances have been detected or not on the clothes or belongings of the audience.

The result of the deployment of those mobile chemical and bio detection units during the tournament in Poland will provide Member States’ authorities with valuable information about how best to carry out threat-detection exercises in future major public events.

The Commission is expected to launch more practical trials of detection equipment in other areas of public security during the autumn of 2012 and the spring of 2013.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting comes as Saudi Arabia’s National Olympic Committee has failed to confirm the participation of women on its national team for the London Games. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, only Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia fielded all-male teams. This year, Qatar and Brunei have confirmed they will send female athletes as part of their teams for the first time, according to HRW.

“Saudi Arabia is the last holdout denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The clock is running out for Saudi women to join the Games, and for the international community to insist that the Saudi government allow women to participate.”

Speaking at a news conference in Jeddah in April, Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal, the Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee, said: “Female sports activity has not existed in Saudi Arabia and there is no move thereto in this regard. At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics.”

“This statement violates the Olympic Charter’s 6th Fundamental Principle of Olympism, that any form of discrimination on the basis of gender is incompatible with the Olympic movement”, Human Rights Watch said.

In February, Human Rights Watch released a report,”Steps of the Devil”: Denial of Women’s and Girls’ Rights to Sport in Saudi Arabia, which sets out how the Saudi government systematically discriminates against women seeking to practice sports such as the ban millions of Saudi girls from participating in physical education classes in state schools.

Saudi government officials have written to Human Rights Watch that the country is evaluating girls’ physical education in schools. Some girls’ schools are allowing sports in defiance of the government ban, and there is a vigorous debate about the subject underway in the country.