BREAKING: Saudi Arabia’s first women’s football league has begun, after being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The opening matches on Tuesday evening were not televised, but Saudi media hailed them as another step forward for women’s participation in sport. It was only in 2018 that women were first allowed to watch football matches in stadiums in the Gulf kingdom.
Now, more than 600 players for 24 teams based in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam are competing for a championship cup.
For many years, the authorities cited cultural norms and religious teachings in denying women the right to participate in sporting activities. Conservative clerics warned that opening sports to them would lead to immorality.
But the wait is over and seven matches took place in the capital Riyadh and the Red Sea city of Jeddah on the opening day of the Saudi Women’s Football League (WFL), which had been due to kick off in March. The results included an 11-0 win for Tigers over Jeddah Challenge, and a 10-1 victory for Al Riyadh United over Najd Al Riyady.
The teams will compete in their respective cities before participating in the final nationwide championship stage, where the championship cup will be awarded. The total prize fund is 500,000 Saudi riyals (Approx. £100,000).
The government-run Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) said that through the WFL it was striving “to empower women and to encourage them to become active and to participate in sports at the community level”.
Najla Ahmed, a 16-year-old from Riyadh who plays football for her school, told Arab News that she would try out for a local team in 2021:
“I’ll be 17, and therefore eligible, and I would love to see anyone try and stop me.”
Regarding this new league, Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said earlier this week that “Saudi citizens and residents should enjoy top-notch entertainment and sporting events, but they also should enjoy basic rights such as free expression and peaceful assembly,”
This is undoubtedly great news for Saudi Arabia and for the world of football; a step forward in the women’s game. However, critics of the Saudi government dismissed such events as “sports washing”, designed to cover up the country’s poor human rights record, including the continued detention of several women activists who had campaigned for reforms.
So, even if this might seem as something “great” for the women’s game, a big change still needs to be made over the next years to really reach equality; not only in the world of football, especially if it’s only used as a “façade”.
WOMEN IN FOOTBALL: THE GLASS CEILING 