“The news is devoid of truth. But the rumor is likely to have sprung from the fact that the municipality is currently constructing three sports clubs in the city. All of them are for men,” said Barr.
“After construction, the facilities will be handed over to the Presidency of Youth Affairs, which is the authority that is responsible for opening and running sports clubs. My belief is that the clubs are for men only,” he added.
A number of newspapers recently carried reports quoting Zaki Hariri, director of the Landscaping Department at Makkah Municipality, who said the municipality is to open three indoor sports clubs for men and women in the city’s Al-Sharaei, Al-Nawariyah and Al-Naseem districts. Hariri made the comments at the start of the Hijri New Year that fell on Dec.7.
“The three clubs are being built at a cost of SR28 million and will set apart three days in a week exclusively for women,” said Hariri.
He added that each club would be operated by a private company in collaboration with the municipality. According to the reports, the clubs, each 10,000 square meters in size, will provide space for people to jog, and play football, basketball and volleyball, and will be operated by women.
