The country has recently entered into a vast program of economic and social reforms including a relaxation of the prohibitions on women.
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Saudi Arabia, which is trying to shed its image of an ultra-conservative kingdom, will launch a women’s football championship comprising 16 teams on November 22, the Saudi Football Federation said on Saturday (November 13th).
The launch of the championship marks a notable change for Saudi women, who were only allowed into a football stadium to watch a match in January 2018. Across the Persian Gulf, the Iranian Football Federation recently asked parliament to allow female spectators to attend stadiums across the country.
The creation of this championship is a “important moment” for the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, said its president, Yasser al-Misehal, and is part of a program to support women’s football launched in 2017.
THE’#Saudi Arabia is moving slowly but surely towards the creation of its first women’s national team of #soccer. At the center of the project, Monika Staab, former German footballer https://t.co/FuHSgteLDF
– ArabNewsFR (@ArabNewsfr) November 8, 2021
The competition will take place in two stages, the teams first competing in three regional leagues in Riyadh, the capital, Jeddah and Dammam. The teams qualified at the end of the regular phase will play the finals in early 2022 in Jeddah.
Saudi leaders, criticized for the kingdom’s human rights abuses, have been using sport as a diplomatic lever for several years to improve the country’s image on the international scene. In early October, the Saudi fund PIF, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salman, bought the English club Newcastle, 19th in the Premier League after 11 days.