- By John Duerden
- Asian football writer
12 minutes ago
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The Saudi Arabian women’s national team was included in the FIFA Women’s World Ranking for the first time in March this year
While stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema have taken men’s football in Saudi Arabia to the next level, the country was already an Asian powerhouse and home to some of the continent’s largest and most successful men’s clubs.
But there is now also rapid progress in women’s football, even though the country is actually starting almost from scratch in this area.
Just five years ago there was no truly organized women’s football in Saudi Arabia, but much has changed since the creation of a league aimed at promoting women’s participation in sport in a country where women’s rights are limited.
The women’s national team, which played its first game just last year, is aiming to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, while the country is bidding to host the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. And the new season of the Saudi Women’s Premier League begins on Friday.
Activists say much more needs to be done for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia despite the reforms, while human rights groups say the Saudi government is using sports to distract from long-standing reputational problems and accuse them of “sports laundering.” , by investing in high-quality investments. Profile events.
At the same time, those involved in the growth of women’s football in the country are excited about the opportunities ahead.
The national team
Layan Jouhari plays for both Jeddah club Al-Ittihad and the national team and she says the thought of representing the country at the World Cup is exciting.
“If we qualify it would be crazy, a dream,” Jouhari told ` Sport. “Whatever challenges there are, we will face them. There is still so much we can do.”
In 2018, women were only allowed to enter stadiums and the following year, the Saudi Arabia Football Association (SAFF) set up a women’s section.
Monika Staab was the national team’s first female coach and in March 2022, after 400 players responded to the call on social media, she chose an initial squad that went to the Seychelles and won their first ever game there.
The German, who coached for 11 years in her home country as well as in Qatar and Bahrain, has now moved up the ranks to become technical director of women’s football at SAFF.
“I have traveled around the world in 90 countries, but I have never seen so much support from the Football Association and the whole country as I have seen in Saudi Arabia over the last two years.”
Although newcomers Philippines and Vietnam qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup almost out of Asia, Staab is trying to temper expectations of participation in the 2027 tournament.
“We have to be realistic that it takes time to build a good national team,” Staab told ` Sport. “We will have an under-15 national team and also an under-20 national team this season and we have an under-17 team and it is very important that they compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) first.”
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Monika Staab (right) has been involved in women’s football for more than half a century and says her main goal has always been to give women the opportunity to play
Hosting the 2026 Asian Cup would be a big step and, if the country gets the AFC’s approval, a first appearance at a major international tournament.
“When we heard the news [that Saudi Arabia were bidding]“It was incredible,” said Jouhari, who comes from a “football-obsessed” family.
“I welcome how far we have come but also realize how hard we have to work to compete at this level against teams who have been around much longer than us.”
The league
Successful national teams need a solid foundation. The men’s league has been around for decades and is now reaching a new level.
There is also a first league with 30 teams in which the winners of the six regional groups play for three promotion places, with one from the top league being relegated.
“It used to be so quiet that we didn’t have a platform to play on,” said Jouhari, a defensive midfielder. Girls struggled to find clubs, and in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the Italian school was one of the few places where they met.
“When the big men’s clubs started setting up women’s teams, it was the biggest news of all. Everyone was so curious about who these girls were.”
They are a mix of full-time and part-time players, many of whom are studying at university, although teams train five or six times a week.
With games being broadcast live on national television for the first time this season, there is also hope that the league’s profile will be raised as attendance figures have been low and stadiums – also used by the men’s teams – are largely empty.
New talent from abroad could also be helpful and there have been some changes in the transfer market.
Staab works with clubs and the Football Association to ensure more young girls take up the game. “We started from scratch and had 400 players who wanted to be part of the first national team.
“What is happening now is incredible, we had our first school competition and 50,000 people signed up, there is so much interest across the country.”
image source, Getty Images
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Former England youth international Ashleigh Plumptre (right) played for Nigeria at the Women’s World Cup
Women’s rights
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sport in recent years and has been accused of using events to “ruin sporting reputation”.
There are concerns about human rights and women’s rights in the country, while same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Saudi Arabia and the death penalty is a possible punishment.
Since 2018, more and more women have been entering the job market.
Daisy Khan, chief executive of the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, told ` Sport that Saudi women had already exceeded government forecasts that women’s participation in the labor market would rise from 19% to 30% by 2030.
“Their participation is already at an incredible 37% in 2023,” Khan said. “There is a big change in mental attitudes towards women’s participation in society.”
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The Saudi Arabian national team in training ahead of last month’s game against Pakistan, which they won 1-0
A relaxation of male guardianship laws means women now have more freedom than before and can drive and travel abroad without the permission of a male relative.
However, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the reform did not go far enough and called for the complete abolition of the male guardianship system and equal rights for women.
In 2018, Saudi Arabia ranked 145 out of 149 in the Global Gender Gap Index. An increase to 131 by 2023 shows some progress, but also shows that there is still a long way to go.
Women’s football, whose national team is ranked 172nd, could say the same.
“If you make the jump from zero to 90, you can progress very quickly, but then it becomes more and more difficult to reach another level,” Jouhari said. “There is still so much we can do, [but] We’re taking it step by step.”
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