Women’s soccer has been long been neglected and deemed 'not right for girls' in the Middle East, a region that loves the men’s game and is hosting the World Cup later this month in Qatar. But there are signs of momentum and changes in attitude.
AMMAN, Jordan — Sarah Asimrin still hears it from her uncles sometimes: “You’re a girl, it’s not right.” But on a recent evening, the 13-year-old Jordanian was on her club’s soccer field practicing alongside other girls and boys.
But some places show signs of momentum. The growth usually depends on active government promotion of women’s sports. Where that happens, it taps into pent-up enthusiasm among girls and women and can shift public attitudes. The Asian and the much smaller West Asian football associations each held their first women’s club championships in 2019. The African federation inaugurated its women’s club championship last year in Cairo, and this year’s games began this week in Morocco, with a $400,000 prize for the winners — though that’s way below the $2.5 million that the winning men’s club gets.
Egypt perhaps shows the region’s starkest contrast. Its biggest men’s teams are wealthy powerhouses that win regional tournaments regularly, while women’s soccer languishes despite repeated efforts to end its neglect. A single team, Wadi Degla, wins most women’s competitions. Where politics and powerful social opposition intersect, girls’ enthusiasm for the game never finds an outlet. For example, while women’s soccer is relatively active among Palestinians in the West Bank, it’s virtually non-existent in the Gaza Strip.
Rama Ashour, a 14-year-old player on the soccer team, said she hopes to be able to keep going and even play on a national team.
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