Saudi women: From spectators to footballers

Up until two years ago, women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to enter football stadiums to watch the men play.

This week, authorities in the conservative kingdom went a step further – – not only can women be spectators, but they will also have their own football league.

The move announced on Monday will see women over the age of 17 competing for places in teams in major cities on March 22 ahead of knockout stages later this year to win a Champions Cup.

However, while it has been welcomed, Saudi women have been quick to call for full equality on the pitch.

Nouf Yamani, who plays for a team in the commercial city of Jeddah, said she and her teammates were excited to play in the new league, but still faced major disadvantages compared to Saudi Arabia’s male footballers.

“We face so many challenges, from a lack of closed, fully-equipped football stadiums and sports buildings that preserve the privacy of women to a lack of medical teams and professional coach crews,” said the 26-year-old.

“We want to be included under the umbrella of the Saudi football federation and be treated like other football teams are,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Yamani was one of the lucky ones. When she started playing at 12, her family was supportive – a rarity in Saudi Arabia, where women’s lives have long been heavily restricted.

Some of those restrictions are now being relaxed, including a ban on women driving cars lifted in 2018. Since last year, women over 21 have been able to get a passport and go abroad without permission and register births, marriages or divorce.

The country has won praise for these reforms, led by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the aim of opening up society and attracting foreign investment to diversify the oil-dependent economy.

But it has also faced fierce criticism for detaining women’s rights activists who had called for the changes.

According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the Creation of the Women’s Football League (WFL) was condemned by Amnesty International as a distraction from an “abysmal human rights situation” in the country.

It was a sentiment echoed by Washington-based Saudi women’s rights activist, Maysaa al-Amoudi, who said the launching of the league was a bid to address Western criticism rather than a genuine attempt at reform.

“Do you think that launching a women’s football league would improve women’s conditions in Saudi Arabia?” said al-Amoudi, who was arrested in 2015 when she tried to drive into the kingdom with another activist and has lived in the United States since 2018.

“Women’s conditions in Saudi Arabia are clear to everyone. They only want to make headlines without really changing women’s rights.”

But not all the women agree with al-Amoudi’s standpoint.

Wedyan Babteen, 26, who founded the team Yamani plays for in Jeddah, said the decision to set up a dedicated league with a prize of 500,000 riyals ($133,000) was a “recognition of the importance” of women’s sport.

“Before, we used to practice football and have matches in a random way,” she said.

“But now, with state sponsorship of the league, it is going to be more organized and will give us a chance to get to know the other teams who share our passion for football.”

Yamani, whose football role models are the American players Alex Morgan and Carlie Lloyd, said every Saudi woman with a passion for sport should be able to pursue it.

“You can do it,” she said. “You can overcome the obstacles, as many others have done.”

Reuters

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from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2020/03/06/saudi-women-from-spectators-to-footballers/