If there is a country that makes the football industry tremble, it is Saudi Arabia. The megapower, located on the Arabian Peninsula, is building its own name in the world of sports at the stroke of a checkbook. Even so, the State has a population historically obsessed with football. Boys and girls, men and women, give themselves with passion to each game. Some have been able to enjoy the applause of the public after a good play for years. They, on the other hand, have begun to know these pleasures in the last five years. During this time, the crown prince Mohammed bin Salmanknown by its acronym MBS, has combined its aggressive campaign of human rights abuses with its strategy of sportswashing and development of the sports panorama in their country.
Now, a new FIFA+ documentary focuses on the rise of a group of young footballers who made history by joining the first women’s team of the Saudi soccer team. “For every girl who dreamed of playing for her nation, this is her story,” proclaim the first frames of ‘Destined to play: the untold story of Saudi women’s football’. It was not until 2018 when women in Saudi Arabia were able to enter stadiums as spectators for the first time. Since then, the rise has been meteoric. A year later, in September 2019, the Women’s Football department of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) was created. The culmination of these advances was the launch of the first women’s national football team Saudi in 2021.
‘Destined to Play’ follows the vital journey of its players. The midfielder Layan Jouhari He fulfilled the dream of his entire family at just 22 years old. “It is something very big, It transcends you completely”, he confesses, on the verge of tears. For the captain Bayan Sadagah, 28 years old, football has allowed her to overcome the painful experiences that her work as a nurse confronts her with. All of these young women became the desired reflection of thousands of girls in Saudi Arabia. A girls green tide Glued to a ball, dressed in the Saudi national team shirt, they slide around the training field, with their parents cheering them on from the stands, in an image that would be unthinkable less than five years ago.
Government effort
The enormous effort of the rich authorities to make women’s football a reality translates into very high results. In 2021, there were 374 female players registered with the SAFF. Just one year later, there were already 694 throughout the country, increasing by 86%. During the same period, the number of women’s clubs grew by 56%from 16 to 25, as did the number of training courses, which experienced an impressive 557% growth going from only 7 to 46. This 2022-23 season more than 48,000 players have competed in the 3,660 teams of the School League.
All this progress would not have been possible without the support of your government, which has put all available resources into promoting women’s football. This state strategy It also reaches professional football, with the signing of big stars for the men’s competition. It is part of the great maneuver of sportswashing from MBS. The de facto Saudi ruler uses sports (and entertainment, and cinema, and the gaming world, and art, and an abundant etcetera) so that the planet celebrates him for these historical advancesignoring, in this way, his poor record of human abuse. During this 2022, the Saudi authorities have broken their own execution record, according to Amnesty International. Freedom of expression and activism remain widely persecuted. And women, although they can now play soccer, are still second-class citizens.
Deterioration of human rights
“Some women who get support from their families may be able to play football, but authorities should work to addressing discrimination in law and practiceso that all women can choose to live their lives however they want, even if they want to play football,” she denounces Rothna Begumsenior researcher on women’s rights at Human Rights Watchto this newspaper.
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In its attempt to cleanse its image due to these widely known abuses, the Saudi regime has opened new spaces for women, beyond football. Although they are increasingly present in public spaces, such as Layan or Bayan, this has not translated into a improvement of their political and civil situation. “They continue to detain women in so-called shelters when families report them for disobedience or other behavior they do not approve, and they have silenced women from speaking out about their rights through travel bans, suspended sentences, and decades-long draconian prison sentences. duration”, concludes Begum.
The authorities seek to give this image of modernity to the autocratic country, but half of its population still does not enjoy all political and civil rights. Although there have been some improvements, Saudi women are still under the male guardianship system, for which they need the approval of a man in most of their life decisions. “In short, it puts existing discrimination into practice,” Begum tells EL PERIÓDICO. Half of the population can already drivebut some of the activists who fought with their own bodies to get them this right remain behind bars or under arrest. travel ban. In Saudi Arabia, several realities coexist. The excitement of being able to kick a ball in public fades when you see that, for being womenare still in second, and last, place.