Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been named to head a Saudi multi-sports federation, in a first for women in the conservative Muslim kingdom where men dominate all sports, an official said on Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that has become “the first woman to lead a federation” covering sporting activities for men and women.

In August 2016, the princess scored another first for women in Saudi Arabia, when she was named by the cabinet to a senior post in the kingdom’s equivalent of a Sports Ministry.

A daughter of a former Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Princess Rima is a graduate in Museology from an American university.

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• Although the kingdom announced it will lift a ban on women drivers from next June next year, it still retains tight restrictions on women and imposes a strict segregation of the sexes – considering one woman has been penalised for driving.