Women Allowed

Published: Jan. 13, 2018, 12:45 p.m.

For the first time Saudi women have been allowed into stadiums to watch a football match. It happened in Jeddah. We hear what the the experience was like from one of the pioneering women and what it means for future change in the country. Stranded in Romania Romania has been home for the Tonga Rugby international Sione Vaiomounga for three years, since he joined the Baia Mare club in 2014. But he suffered kidney failure in his first season and needs regular dialysis treatment. With no dialysis machines in his native Tonga, he's described a return home as a death sentence. We hear from Sione and his wife Sala, plus the former Samoa International Dan Leo, one of the founders of the Pacific Rugby Players welfare organisation, that has been helping Sione and his family. Competing with Smog We're in India to look at how pollution in Indian cities is becoming a barrier to sport and exercise. Breaking barriers on ice When the American figure skater Adam Rippon glides onto the ice for the first time at next month's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, it will be a landmark moment. Rippon, one of three men who'll represent the United States in the discipline, tells us what it means to be the first openly gay American man to qualify for the Olympics. From Rugby to the NFL We hear how a former England hopeful Christian Scotland-Williamson switched his sights from rugby union to chase a career in the NFL. Rolling over football We hear about the love of the beautiful game across the globe. Football on the beaches. Football on dusty patches of dirt. Football in the street. But in some parts of the world, there’s another sport following swiftly on its heels, Rollerblading. We're in Ivory Coast to hear how the sport is growing in the country. (Photo: Female Saudi supporters watch football at the King Abdullah Sports City. Credit: Getty Images)