Qatar Officials Ban Naked Male Statues From Olympic Exhibit; Statues Sent Back To Greece After Qatari Authorities Wanted Naked Men Veiled

There seems to be a problem with the male figure in the Middle East. Qatar officials have removed two naked male statues from an Olympic exhibit in Doha because they found the images offensive. Officials in Qatar wanted the naked statues to have their anatomy covered, and when officials in Greece refused to comply, the naked male statues were sent back to Athens.

A Culture Ministry official who spoke off the record confirmed that exhibition organizers wanted to avoid scandalizing female visitors. No other Qatari officials could be reached for comment.

Officials in Qatar had wanted to cover the objectional areas of the naked male statues with black cloth, but this did not sit well with Greek officials. Greek Deputy Culture Minister Costas Tzavaras ordred the statues to be shown as they were or shipped back home, so Qatar Culture Ministry officials opted to send the statues back to Athens on April 19. The statues were never included as part of the exhibit.

Tzavaras said the exhibit was designed to be a "bridge of friendship" between Qatar and Greece.

The Doha exhibit was entitled "Olympics - Past and Present", and was advertised on its website as "largest exhibition of its kind showing both ancient and modern Olympic Games." The statues date to the 6th and 2nd centuries BC, and were among nearly 600 artifacts brought from Greece for the exhibition.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that three United Arab Emirates men were kicked out of a festival in Saudi Arabia and then deported for being "too handsome," creating concerns that it would elicit inappropriate responses among female attendees.