* Woman athlete one of first two sent to Games by Saudi
* Saudi woman is due to compete on Friday
* Female participation controversial in Saudi Arabia
(Updates with IOC quotes)
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, July 29 (Reuters) - A Saudi Arabian
judo competitor, one of the first two female athletes sent to
the Olympics by the conservative kingdom, will withdraw if she
is not allowed to wear her hijab or headscarf, during bouts, her
father was quoted as saying.
Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani is due to compete in
the +78 kg judo category on Friday. A Saudi official said
earlier this month its female athletes would have to obey
Islamic dress codes.
But last week, International Judo Federation (IJF) president
Marius Vizer said Shaherkani would have to fight without a
headscarf to comply with "the principle and spirit of judo".
Sunday's edition of Saudi Arabia's al-Watan newspaper quoted
the father, Ali Shaherkani, as saying over the telephone from
Britain that his daughter "will not compete in the Judo Games on
Aug. 3 if the committee insists that she removes her hijab".
He was quoted as telling al-Watan he had not heard back from
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the matter.
The IJF, whose regulations for the Olympic Games state no
headgear can be worn, was in regular discussions with Olympic
and Saudi officials to find a solution, IJF spokesman Nicolas
Messner said.
He said the hijab was banned for safety reasons, as judo
fighters can try to strangle each other using their judogi or
kit. While using a hijab to do this would be illegal it could
happen by mistake during a move.
"It can be dangerous," Messner said. "It could happen during
a move, something wrong could happen."
Constructive talks had taken place between the federation
and the athlete, as well as the IOC and other organisers to see
if a solution could be found, a spokesman for the IOC told
reporters on Sunday.
"I read that somewhere that there was a threat to withdraw -
as far as I know that is not true at all," he added.
"And we are still very confident of a positive outcome. And
at this stage to be honest the best thing to do is to allow them
to work that out, and try to get the athlete to compete. And we
remain very positive on that."
Female participation in sports has long been a controversial
issue in Saudi Arabia, where conservative Muslim clerics have
said it is immodest and goes against women's nature.
Until this year, Saudi Arabia was one of three countries,
alongside Brunei and Qatar, never to have sent female athletes
to the Olympics. Human rights groups urged the IOC to ban the
countries from the Games unless they agreed to send women.
Saudi Arabia reached an agreement on the participation of
Shaherkhani and Sarah Attar, an 800-m runner, just two weeks ago
after talks with the IOC.
(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; additional reporting by Avril
Ormsby in London; Editing by Michael Roddy and Ralph Boulton)