The vice-president of the Iranian Olympic Committee, Faezeh Hashemi, yesterday urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to support Muslim women.

"As the progressive trend of Olympism goes on, 500 million Muslim women are ignored because they maintain the moralities as stated in their holy religion Islam," Hashemi, daughter of Iranian president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, told the World Conference on Woman and Sport.

"One-quarter of the world's women cannot do sport under the existing conditions. What is the problem of having sport competitions in accordance to our conditions?

"Treating cultural practices disrespectfully will only lead to more isolation."