Saudi girls school defies clerics with basketball

A girls' school in Saudi Arabia has defied a religious ban on female sports by erecting basketball hoops and letting pupils play at break-time, the daily al-Watan reported on Wednesday. Powerful clerics in the conservative Islamic kingdom have long spoken against allowing girls to play sports, with one senior figure saying in 2009 it might lead them to lose their virginity by tearing their hymens. Saudi Arabia's austere interpretation of Islamic law prevents women from working, opening bank accounts or having some elective surgery without the permission of a male relative. They are not allowed to drive. The school in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province has now become the first state-run girls school openly to encourage sports, Watan reported, quoting a supervisor as saying it would expend pupils' energy "in a positive way".