Saudis ready for kingdom’s first women’s soccer league
Saudi female soccer players are eagerly waiting for Saudi Arabia’s first women’s soccer league to be launched in October, after being delayed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Saudi Arabia’s first female soccer league is set to launch in October, after being put on hold in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. This comes two years after Saudi women were allowed for the first time into stadiums.
On Feb. 24, the Saudi Sports for All Federation (SFA) launched a female soccer league, which was postponed in March as part of the precautionary measures to stem the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Arrangements are underway to launch the first season of the league in the second week of October. The tournament will be reserved for women aged 17 and above. The league will play its matches in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Other cities will be added to the tournament should they have four registered teams of no less than 20 players. The registration is open until the end of September, according to the official website of the tournament, where women can register to join teams.
Saudi Arabia had previously organized a championship that included six women’s soccer teams in Jeddah, under the name of “Jeddah Women’s League” in October 2019. The games were played as per the 9 versus 9 formations, which will be applied to the upcoming tournament.
