“The news circulated by a number of Internet sites that I have added three women to the committee is not true,” Abdullah Al-Ghamdi told Arab News. “I have not made any statement in this regard to any electronic media.”

The committee was formed seven months ago, and Al-Ghamdi said they were still working through the nascent phase of their formation.

“It is fairly a new committee,” he said. “We are still finding our ways.”

He announced that the committee was planning an athletic event in Jeddah, “in which many parties will participate,” but he would not provide further details.

Susan Chadli, whose name is among the three women who were allegedly appointed to the committee, declined to comment on the reports. “Like you I read the news on the Internet,” she told Arab News. “The picture will be clear in the coming days, but right now I have no comment.”

Al-Ghamdi has become the butt of criticisms by other members of the committee, who accused him of making decisions without involving them and ignoring them in his communications with the General Presidency of Youth Welfare and Sports, which regulates all athletic activities in the Kingdom.

Speaking to Arab News, Al-Ghamdi rejected the allegations and described them “malicious.”

Last month, the Ministry of Education launched an inquiry into how 200 schoolgirls from six high schools competed in a sports competition at Effat University on Dec. 8. The ministry says the schools should have sought permission to hold such an event.