Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
Saudi sports authorities shut down a female
fitness centre in Riyadh Friday over a contentious promotional video
that appeared to show a woman in figure-hugging workout attire.
"We
are not going to tolerate this," Saudi sports authority chief Turki
al-Sheikh tweeted as he ordered that the centre's license be withdrawn.
Sheikh,
an adviser to powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also told
authorities to investigate and prosecute those behind the video.
The
video, which was widely circulated on social media but could not be
independently verified by AFP, showed a woman with uncovered hair in
what appeared to be a gym and kicking a punching bag.
The General Sports Authority said the video contained scenes that could corrupt public morals.
Saud
al-Qahtani, a media adviser to the royal court, lauded the sports
authority's swift response, saying on Twitter that the kingdom was on
the path of "moderation without moral breakdown".
Women are
required to wear body-shrouding abaya robes and also cover their hair in
public in parts of the ultra-conservative kingdom, which has some of
the world's toughest restrictions on women.
Last
July, police questioned a woman after she appeared in a series of
videos, initially posted to Snapchat, wearing a crop top and a
high-waisted miniskirt.
She had been filmed walking through the
historic fort of Ushaiqer, north of Riyadh, and playing with sand in the
dunes. She was later released without charge.
Saudi Arabia, in
the midst of a far-reaching liberalisation drive, will allow women to
drive from June and recently permitted them to enter sports stadiums for
the first time.
The government is also seeking to jump-start
women's sports and is moving toward compulsory physical education
classes for girls, after a ban was lifted in 2014.
But the kingdom
still requires women to seek permission from a male guardian -- usually
a father, husband or brother -- to study, work or travel.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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