Rawan Bou Hassan | Staff Writer
The 20th of February was a historic day for Saudi Arabia’s women’s national football team as they beat Seychelles 2-0 in their first international match.
Al-Bandari Mubarak scored the 1st goal just 14 minutes into the game. During the second half, Mariam Al-Tamimi stepped up to take the penalty and scored to make it 2-0.
The match, which was held at the National Stadium in Maldives, was part of an international friendly tournament. The team also faced the host nation, Maldives, on the 24th of February, at the National Stadium in Male, and also won 2-0, with Al-Bandari Mubarak scoring both goals as well. For the second match running, the Saudi defense kept a clean sheet.
The team had already started its first training phase earlier this year on January 14 in Jeddah, and then resumed its second training phase on January 27 in Riyadh, before heading to Maldives for its third training phase.
Lamia Bin Bahian, director of the women’s football department and member of the board of directors of the Saudi football federation, said “This is the beginning. There is a long journey to achieve our aim of participating in regional and international championships.” The coach, Monika Staab, deemed it a historical moment, and they were congratulated by non-other than the legendary Pele saying, “I want to congratulate the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and their Women’s National Football Team for their first-ever official FIFA match. Today is a historic day not only for you, but for everyone who loves football.”
This milestone comes after small changes that started happening in Saudi Arabia back in 2012, where 2 women attended the London Olympics, followed by 4 attending the 2016 Rio Olympics. Also, in 2018, women were allowed to drive, work in jobs parallel to men, and attend football matches. In 2019, Saudi Arabia set up a Department of Women’s Football Development which is in line with FIFA’s global strategy for women’s football. Later that year on October 4th, as well as 2020, two unofficial football leagues were held, the latter known as the Women’s Community Football League. In 2021, it took another leap forward by launching the first-ever official women’s league, expanding it around the whole country with 16 teams participating. All these actions align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.
As an avid football fan, I was thrilled to hear such news as this means greater opportunities and equal representation for females, especially athletes, in Saudi Arabia. This also has positive implications on women’s empowerment in the whole Arabian Gulf region, where these players now act as agents of change for future generations.