The Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has finally allowed women football and on Tuesday (November 17) the first matches were played. However, the game was not broadcasted or televised.
The 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”.
This development is seen as a step forward for women’s participation in sport and emancipation of women in Saudi Arabia. In 2018, under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman women were first allowed to watch football matches in stadiums in the kingdom that is home to the two most holy sites in Islam.
For decades, women in Saudi Arabia had been confined to there homes because Saudi Arabia is home to the Wahabi school of Islam. Under the strict Sunni Islam norms, many rights were denied to women such as the right to participate in sporting activities and driving.
Conservative Islamic clerics who advise the ruling Saud family had even warned that opening sports to women would lead to immorality.
The Women’s Football League (WFL) in Saudi Arabia was supposed to start in the month of March, however, due to Covid-19, it was postponed. On Tuesday, seven matches were played in the capital Riyadh and the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
This week in November 2020, seems to be quite momentous as the oil-rich nation played host to the first international women’s golf tournament also.