Afghan Girls Soccer

by Carol Erickson
Under the Taliban rule in the mid 1990s, most Afghan children had no opportunity to play sports. So in the summer of 2004, after the fall of the Taliban, Awista Ayub, who had grown up in Afghanistan, brought eight Afghan girls to the United States for a soccer clinic.
In her newly published book, Kabul Girls Soccer Club, Ayub tells her own story and how these eight girls found the strength in each other, in teamwork, and in themselves, to take risks to obtain the kinds of freedoms that many of us take for granted. Fifteen teams now compete in the Afghanistan Football Federation, with hundreds of girls participating.
Ayub was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. In 1981, at the age of two, her family brought her to the United States where she thrived through organized athletics. She was determined to make a difference in her home country someday, and after September 11, 2001, she was inspired to start the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange, an organization dedicated to nurturing Afghan girls through soccer.
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“While the field of sports and development is still relatively young, evidence is growing that sports can play a key role in creating a safe space for women outside of the home and even go so far as to change the role of women in society long-term,” Ayub said. “Sports as an instrument for empowering women and girls in developing countries has engendered increased interest and support within the international development community in recent years.”
Until the Soviet invasion in 1978, Afghanistan’s larger cities, particularly Kabul, were progressive, as men and women had near equal opportunity and access to education and athletics. Throughout the 1970s, Kabul University had co-ed classrooms, and girls’ basketball and volleyball were common throughout the city. Even though men dominated the athletic arena during this time, women’s participation in sports was strong.
“During the next 20-plus years, both genders had limited access to sports,” Ayub said. “Brutal warfare dramatically changed the cultural landscape of the country, which regressed from a veritable ‘age of liberation’ in the 1970s to the age of social repression during the civil war in the early 1990s and under Taliban rule in the mid 1990s. Most Afghan children had no opportunity to play sports much less receive the proper training and coaching necessary for a high level of success in athletics.”
Currently in Afghanistan, sports have become a more acceptable activity for women and girls. Gender-segregated arenas and gymnasiums are a way to ensure that women can play sports in a female-only environment, ensuring the safety of young female athletes. Dedicated women coaches, trainers, and referees for women’s sports events and practices also are a way to respect current cultural traditions.
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When boys see girls in a new, action-oriented role, they learn about the strengths and capabilities that girls and women possess.
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In Kabul Girls Soccer Club, Ayub writes about one girl, Robina, who after taking up soccer, rediscovers herself:
“Now, after playing soccer seriously for months, Robina is aware of her body in a new way. Before, it was her hands that were necessary to her: to carry water up the mountain to their house, to scrub the floors, or to write out her lessons. But in soccer, they are useless. Now she's discovered her legs, her balance, the speed with which she can run. And her forehead, which she uses to butt the ball.”
“Before soccer, her legs and feet simply got her places, or kicked at rubbish or stones in her way. Now she knows each part of her foot intimately, the way it curves on one side, perfectly contoured to the side of the ball. She knows the strength of the broad, smooth sweep leading up to her ankles, and the dense, solid circle of her heel, perfect for pivoting.”
Ayub believes that girls’ athletics can also change the perception that men and boys may have of appropriate roles for women in Afghan society. When boys see girls in a new, action-oriented role, they learn about the strengths and capabilities that girls and women possess.
A portion of the books sales of Kabul Girls Soccer Club will be donated to the non-profit organization Women Win, which supports the empowerment of girls and women worldwide through sport. Awista was a Featured Commentator in the Gamechangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport competition.
Source: http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/82217
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Afghan women footballers dream of World Cup

By Daphne Benoit (AFP) –
KABUL — On a yellowing football pitch, next to concrete walls and razor wire, World Cup fever is running high for Afghan women footballers who dream of scoring for their war-torn country.
Training sessions may be interrupted by US helicopters landing, but the women play hard, tackling each other to the ground under the scorching summer sun.
"If anybody does that to me again, I'll do it to her," shouts one of the players after coming down in a tackle.
"Why are you laughing?" yells another at her teammates. "We have to be serious and exercise seriously."
Afghanistan is not likely to compete in a World Cup any time soon but its women's side trains fiercely in the heat, wearing headscarfs, track suits and long sleeves that cover everything except hands and faces.
Wearing shorts in Afghanistan is taboo. A few of the more daring players have swapped Muslim veils for baseball caps as they train next to the NATO headquarters in Kabul, nerve centre of a nine-year fight against the Taliban.
With the World Cup under way in South Africa, Hadisa Wali isn't missing a second of the action. She predicts victory for Brazil but her football hero is Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid's star Portuguese midfielder.
Her favourite female players are Brazil's Marta Vieria da Silva and Germany's Birgit Prinz, two stars of international women's football.
Teammate Khalida Popal calls football "a passion" but a struggle for women, who were forbidden from sport and all public activities, including going to school, under the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.
"It's hard to play football here," she explains. Aged 20, she is one of the oldest players in a young Afghan team. She watches recruits shooting at the goal, clad in T-shirts bearing the image of President Hamid Karzai.
"Some families refuse, they say this is not for girls," she says. "Others don't like it that we go abroad without our families."
In 2007, the women's team started to travel, playing in Germany, Jordan and Pakistan.
"Sometimes, it just makes me cry. You have to fight to continue to play. It's just like the Americans who fight against the Taliban," she says.
Under the post-Taliban Afghan constitution, women are equal to men and a handful have competed in overseas competitions, mostly in martial arts events.
But women's groups say they remain the most marginalised and underprivileged group in the country, subject to violence and discrimination in the name of Afghan tradition. The war is another hindrance.
In the middle of training, the team suddenly races for the stands as -- without warning -- two US helicopters prepare to land on the pitch.
"Normally they warn us, but this time they've forgotten," says Wali, bending over to protect herself from the powerful downdraft as a Black Hawk has just set down on the grass.
Due to safety concerns in Kabul, where Taliban suicide attacks are on the rise and where facilities are few, women play on ground attached to the general headquarters of the 142,000-strong foreign military in Afghanistan.
When the aircraft take off, training can resume. In red jerseys and football boots, the teenagers run drills under the watchful eye of their trainer, the only man to be seen.
Kawsaz Amine, 16, came to watch. She feels sick so is not playing, listening to pop star Shakira's World Cup hit on her mobile phone.
Like her sister, who also plays in the national team, she was brought up with a passion for "The Beautiful Game".
"My father was footballer, my uncle too. They are very happy that I play in national team," Amine says.
For her, Argentina are well placed to win the World Cup. Her favourite player and inspiration is Argentine star striker Lionel Messi.
"I want to become the Messi of Afghanistan," she says with a huge smile.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gnZxctlhQh8HQCmsyeJblwv3Njlg

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It's a ‘foul' by FIFA

Neena Bhandari
As the winter sun descends, young girls warm up for football training in their shorts and shirts at the Lakemba Sport and Recreation Club (LSRC) in Sydney, Australia. Some are also wearing a hijab. Although a common sight in multicultural Australia, the hijab has come under the spotlight as soccer's world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), had banned it from competition in April this year. FIFA's rules state that players may not wear jewellery or dangerous headgear such as hair clips, and that “basic compulsory equipment must not have any political, religious or personal statements”.
In a flux over ban
The world of women's football has been in a flux ever since the ban came into force. When the new rule forced Iran's girls' soccer squad to opt out of the first summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this year, there were widespread protests. The issue was resolved recently after FIFA relented and permitted the girls to wear hats while on the field .
While it's a small victory for the Iranian girls, many Muslim players in Australia, such as Mecca Laalaa, 23, have expressed their deep disappointment at players being forced to choose between their love for the game and their faith. “I am disappointed with FIFA's illogical ban on the hijab. It is arrogant and discriminatory. We have hijabs that accommodate FIFA rules. They are made of cotton and don't require safety pins. It is like wearing a hood and one can choose from a range of colours,” says Mecca, who plays for the LSRC.
One of the goals mentioned on FIFA's Web site with regard to the women's game is “to increase the proportion of women and girls playing football at the grassroots, in schools and at amateur and professional levels”. Hiba Ayache, 24, has been playing soccer for the last 13 years and works as the Female Sports Recreation Coordinator at the LSRC.
She says, “My parents allowed me to play soccer as it is a non-contact sport. I started wearing the hijab two years ago and it seems to fit into our multicultural society just fine. The headscarf is a religious requirement. It is something I wear with a lot of pride and respect. FIFA's hijab ban is a slap in the face.”
But Hiba, who has never stopped getting a thrill out of kicking a football, feels that at the end of the day, it is FIFA's loss. “They will see a huge drop in the number of women playing the sport. Not just those who wear the hijab but women from other communities as well, as an expression of solidarity with us,” she says.
Women's football — long strides
Adds Mecca, who loves the team spirit and strong bonds of friendship she has formed through the sport, “We wear hijab because we want to, and not to make a religious, cultural or political statement.
0I want to dispel this perception that Muslim women who wear the hijab belong at home and are oppressed. While playing football at school, my headscarf wasn't an issue, but playing the sport at the competition level is not easy. There are instances when I feel out of place, but that isn't because I don't ‘assimilate', it's because of certain people's attitudes.”
Despite being a fairly new sport in the country, as compared with, say, cricket, women's football has taken long strides, with participation at every level increasing faster than in any other sport for women.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities Report, April 2009, there were 82,700 girls between the ages of five and 14 playing outdoor football; and, according to ABS 2005-06 data, there were 1,08,100 girls of 15 years and above playing the sport.
For Sarah El-Adib, 20, football has been a passion since she was in the fourth grade . She says, “I love the sport because it accommodates wearing a hijab. As I got older, my parents became increasingly concerned about the physical nature of the game and would worry about me getting hurt, but they have always been encouraging and supportive.”
This, of course, is all set to change now. While football as a sport has managed to fit in with the needs of many Muslim women, this ban has come as a big blow. “I am allowed to walk in public with the hijab, attend university with it on, so why shouldn't I be allowed to play football? Football has always been considered an ‘international sport' so how can FIFA just exclude a large part of the world population? Sport is supposed to break down racial and religious barriers, not enforce them!” says Sarah.
No issues, says FFA
The Football Federation of Australia (FFA) has formed a small internal working group to examine the issue. According to a spokesman, “Our stance is that it is business as usual and there has been no changes to our domestic competitions, meaning women are free to wear hijab if they wish. We have had no reports of any issues in Australia around the wearing of hijab.”
Lebanese-born Dr Jamal Rifi, President of LSRC, whose three daughters play football, is pleased with this support from the FFA. He says, “They have been encouraging our girls to continue playing soccer despite the FIFA ban. We know this ban is not in the best interest of the players or the sport code itself. Hijab is not a hazard on the field for players. We had five ‘girls only' teams in our club last year and this was a direct result of opening the sport to players from all religions, races and cultures.”
In Australia, essentially a sports-loving nation, parents take keen interest in their children's sporting activities, escorting them to and from training and matches after school and at weekends. And as the countdown begins for FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 in Germany, Sam Kerr, 16 — one of the youngest players to join the national Australian women's football team, also called the Matildas — says she is “very excited, but nervous too.” Making it to the national team requires time, effort and years of training, along with learning to cope with the pressure of competition. Thea Slayter, 27, centre back or central defender in the Matildas, has been playing football since she was five. “Representing Australia has always been my goal and my parents supported me in achieving it. Matildas were my role models and joining the team has been a dream come true,” she says.
While football fever is high among the girls here, several Muslim players are left with a bittersweet feeling. Many like Sarah feel that they have something to prove to the world when they are on the field. She wants to give her best and prove that she is a good player, irrespective of what she wears — in this case, the hijab.
Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2010/06/18/stories/2010061850140400.htm
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Iranian girls set for youth games after ban

TEHRAN - Iranian female footballers will take part in the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this August after world football authorities lifted a ban on the wearing of the Islamic head veil, an Iranian official said on Tuesday.

"I think this is one of the big jobs done by the football federation," the chairman of the Iranian football federation Ali Kafashian told the ISNA news agency, referring to the lifting of the ban by FIFA.

"I think this is a great success for the Muslim nations because now women footballers can compete," Kafashian said.

"So we are currently designing a special women's football kit with the help of some domestic sportswear maker."

More than 3,600 young athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 years will take part in the inaugural event in Singapore from August 14-26.

Kafashian explained that the lifting of the ban came after he met with FIFA president Sepp Blatter in Geneva last month. According to Iranian media, the ban was imposed on October 2009.

"So we urgently got ourselves to Switzerland and in our meeting with Blatter we told him about the effort to boost the standing of Iranian women footballers," he explained.

"We told him that preventing them playing with the Islamic veil is preventing the growth of (women's) football.

"Then FIFA told us that they would study our reasoning and get back to us. They shortly afterwards announced that veiled women could take part in competitions."

FIFA have not confirmed they have lifted the ban, saying only in a brief statement: "We have been in contact with the Iranian federation on this matter for the past nine months."

The Islamic dress code is mandatory in Iran, which has been under clerical rule for more than three decades.

Every post-pubescent woman regardless of her religion or nationality must cover her hair and bodily contours in public.

National state-run television rarely shows women's sports events though many Iranian women are avid sports enthusiasts -- and practitioners.

Several have won medals in international tournaments that have allowed them to compete while wearing headscarves and observing Islamic dress code, notably Sara Khoshjamal-Fekri, 21.

She became a heroine at home as the first Iranian female taekwondo Olympic qualifier and was listed by Time magazine as one of the "100 Olympic Athletes to Watch" at the 2008 Beijing Games, where she was knocked out in the quarter-finals.

Marjan Kalhor, national skiing champion and Homa Hosseini, national rowing champion made histroy when they carried the Islamic republic's flag at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olypmics and the Beijing Games resepctively.

Source: http://business.maktoob.com/20090000466134/Iranian_girls_set_for_youth_games_after_ban/Article.htm

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Moroccan Female Soccer Players Fight Uphill Battle for Resources

In Moroccan society today female players who fought and won the right to play soccer have a new battle on their hands. They have a professional league, but they still lag far behindMorocco’s male players when it comes to the basics of the game- time, space and money.
Lisa Matuska reports from the Moroccan city of Casablanca that female football players today are entering the male-dominated field by the hundreds, and demanding a space to play.
Ambi soccer game
Saadia Salah is watching a local women’s football team- called Nassim- play a scrimmage. The team plays in Salah’s neighborhood of Sidi Moumen- a sprawling, low-income suburb of Casablanca.
ambi soccer game
A former player herself, Salah, 38, says when she played there were no girls teams. she would have to sneak out onto the field just to get in a few touches on the ball-
SALAH: the boys they would follow us throwing stones, when we would enter the field, they would climb the walls and throw rocks and we would stop playing, Then women wearing traditional clothing, they would peak over the wall and they would say, “come look come look,” they would call each other and just stare at us. We got embarrassed so we stopped. It was like they were kicking us out by just staring
Today many of the girls practicing here play in head scarves- wrapped extra tight, for sport. A group of boys huddles outside the fence, watching and criticizing almost every touch the girls make. Nassim is one of 24 teams inMorocco’s premier division for women’s football. The league began in 2004 and is run by the same federation as the men’s teams But Nassim’s coach Adil Farass says the women’s league is more disorganized.
FARASS: they told us this season there will be support but nothing has come, when we went to play Fqih Ben Salah we borrowed money for transport, today the referees came and we had to borrow money to pay them.
It’s difficult to compare the structure of men’s and women’s football inMorocco. Professional men’s football is supported by a youth structures like neighborhood teams, camps, and academies. Women’s football has no organizational youth structures. So when young girls want to play football, they have to join the boys in the streets.
JRAIDI: One day I was playing and Farass was with his boys team and he saw me play and came up to me and said, “you must play with my team, you play well and you have good skill” and from then on I was with him in Sidi Moumen.
Jraidi says now there are many more girls in the streets playing football.

JRAIDI: Now the problems are money, field, and the federation, we still haven’t gotten our stipend yet.
The stipend is small. Each women’s team gets 30 thousand dirham (that’s 4 thousand dollars) a year to cover costs like equipment, transportation and referees. If they have enough, the coaches try to give the girls extra money when they win. The men’s teams receive about twice that amount from the federation. Male players in the premier divisions typically have salaries that exceed what one girls’ team gets in a year.
Plus, the men’s teams get support from a well-established football industry- generating money from TV coverage, sponsorship and ticket sales. Girls’ teams in Morocco have looked for outside support, but few companies are lining up to sponsor them. Women’s games, which are free, don’t usually draw a crowd, let along a paying crowd.
Radio Mars show
Once a week on this daily sports radio show, Journalist Hassan Manyani covers women’s football - he interviews federation officials and coaches and people are calling in.
MANYANI: It’s the mentality around women and also it’s the federation which hardly manages to provide support or funds for the men’s leagues, so now there is a sort of awareness that it has to reorganize and develop women’s football but its coming, there is an awareness and this is already a good thing.
Officials from Morocco’s soccer federation did not make themselves available for this story, but Manyani predicts solutions will not come easily. One of the biggest obstacles is that most of these girls in the league are also still in high school. Men at their level are usually older, or don’t need to stay in school- for them football can be a job.
Soccer’s international regulating body, FIFA, held a symposium on women’s football three years ago. It said the next step to develop the sport is to have more women as referees, coaches and administrators.
BOUBIA: The Green Walker, This is my first team
Amel Boubia is a volunteer coach for the Nassim team.
BOUBIA: I wanted to play with Raja Ain Harouda but I stopped to practice football because I wanted to be a coach, I passed some course for football and now I coach team Nassim Hay Mohammadi.
She’s heard that this season the Moroccan federation is looking to give extra money for coach’s salaries for the women’s teams. But she’s skeptical. 37-year-old Boubia has an impressive resume in women’s sports: as a player and a coach she’s participated in women’s football camps all over Morocco. But Boubia says she still can’t find a salaried job in female sports. She uses herself as a cautionary tale.
BOUBIA: the girls must give importance for their study because the sport now is without salary and not job, you can practice sport only for your health and your feeling, not for a job.
Boubia also knows that as girls get older, more of them are pressured to leave the game by their families and society. And in her own job search now, she’s given up on Morocco- she’s practicing her English in hopes of finding a job outside the country. And that’s hard, because she sees something unique in the Nassim girls, and she’s like to continue to coach them.
BOUBIA: For the Nassim team, I think they have a good future because they’re all around the same age, they were born in 95, 94, 93 and they have potential, so hopefully they will do well.
Ambi sounds of Nassim game
On this morning Boubia watches as the team plays on a wet and rocky field. 18-year-old Ibtissam Jraidi is playing forward. While Jraidi’s playing, she isn't focused on the obstacles she’s overcome. She’s not thinking about advancing women's sport in a Muslim country, or giving confidence to young Moroccan girls. She says she’s here for another reason.
JRAIDI: Football, it’s mixed into my blood, I can’t spend a day without playing it.
And even the boys smirking behind the fence can’t argue with that one.
Source: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/content.aspx?audioID=42009
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UAE Soccer shows status of Muslim Female Athletes

They only recently got a grass practice field. They've come under attack on their Facebook page, and some fear telling their relatives that during their spare time they play soccer.
Such are the troubles for the national women's team from the United Arab Emirates. And this is progress.
Recently, the UAE women scored their greatest triumph, making their first appearance in a major tournament. Playing live on national television - and in front of a boisterous crowd of several hundred men - the Gulf upstarts stunned reigning champion Jordan 1-0 in the West Asian Football Federation championship.
"It has made me so proud," said Alaa Ahmed, a 15-year-old midfielder who is one of the few players wearing a tightly drawn, black head scarf, leggings and long-sleeved shirt during matches. "Afterward, the other kids in school came up and asked for my autograph. They said I was a star. It's a great feeling."
The topsy-turvy journey of the UAE team is emblematic of the issues faced by female athletes across the Islamic world.
Helped by families moving to the cities, better education and increased government support, Muslim women from Indonesia to Morocco are taking up sports in small but growing numbers. They are forming soccer leagues in Turkey, boxing clubs in Afghanistan and rugby teams in Iran. Nearly 150 female athletes from 18 Muslim countries took part in the 2008 Beijing Games, a record and a fivefold increase from the 1988 Seoul Games, according to the International Olympic Committee.
Yet the growth comes in fits and starts, and is vulnerable to age-old cultural pressures, modern rules and varying player commitment.
Saudi Arabia, for instance, does not allow women to participate in the Olympics and the once-banned Kuwaiti soccer team was denounced on its return from the WAFF tournament by conservative lawmakers who want a ban on all international competitions. In Iraq, a women's wrestling club disbanded last year after receiving death threats from religious groups.
Then there is growing debate on the wearing of head scarves at sporting events. While rugby, volleyball and taekwondo federations allow them, FIFA has resisted lifting a ban - standing by rules designed for safety but seen by Muslims as discriminatory.
Last month, FIFA initially blocked the Iranian girls' soccer team from competing in this summer's inaugural Youth Olympics over their insistence on wearing head scarves - which some Muslims say protects the modesty of Islamic girls and women. FIFA allowed them back in this month after the team agreed to wear a cap that covers their hair.
"Despite the growth in participation rates, the biggest challenges remain legal prohibitions, social stigma and limited opportunity," said Meghan O. Mahoney, an expert on women's sports at Northeastern University's Sport in Society.
Formed in 2004 by a handful of young women in love with the game, the UAE team operated in name only for the first several years. Then in 2008, the group hired Australian Connie Selby, who instituted regular practices and games with opponents from other parts of the country and tours of Europe.
Their victory over Jordan in February raised the team's profile and turned many of the players into local celebrities.
But on a balmy night at the team's new practice field, a gift of the government located in the shadow of a men's soccer stadium, the limit of their newfound success was easy to see.
Selby, a 50-year-old former Australian national team captain, was running out of patience. She had spent the day gearing up for the intense passing drills and scrimmage. By the time practice was set to start, only Ahmed and another player had bothered to show up. Practice had to be scrapped.
"I've been getting text messages all day from players saying they can't come, they can't come," said a frustrated Selby, who before taking the UAE job coached in Australia and headed women's soccer in the Oceanian Football Confederation.
Retaining players - all of whom are in school or have day jobs as police officers, bankers and administrators - is a huge challenge. Compared to thousands of players to choose from in nations such as Australia or Japan, the UAE only has a pool of 20 who are trying to balance family and work demands with the team.
There is no UAE league to motivate them and games are rare. The next match is another regional tournament in August. Without a league, the team cannot qualify to play in Asian Football Confederation tournaments which could lead to a World Cup berth - a dream of Selby and many of the players.
"A lot of them see this as a job, rather than a love of the game," said Nadine Schtakleff, a 25-year-old banker whose family hails from Lebanon, and who looks a little like America's Mia Hamm with her ponytail and broad smile. She was typical of most of the players, who prefer T-shirt and shorts over the head scarf and long sweats.
"It takes a lot to be committed," she said. "It is new here and there are not a lot of people willing to step out and invest in the team."
And there is the conservative culture to confront. While Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, and his wife, Princess Haya, have championed women's sports and two of Mohammed's daughters took part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, many Emiratis have their suspicions about Western sports.
They fear that women's soccer forces their women to wear revealing uniforms that will expose their bodies, a taboo in a country of 4.8 million people where the preferred dress is the black, cloak-like abaya and hijab.
As a result, the team has lost several players, including one who left after a relative saw her playing in the championship game without her headscarf.
The job of changing the Emirati mindset falls to Nada Yousef al-Hashimi, a vivacious Ministry of Economy official who took up swimming and track in school. When she is not trying to lure foreign investment into the country, al-Hashimi can be found at the team's practice watching protectively over the players she fondly calls "diamonds" and "stars."
Al-Hashimi insists she is not trying to change the culture as much as making the case that soccer is no threat to local traditions. She tirelessly promotes the team and has been known to engage critics who pop up on the team's Facebook page, which includes a lively discussion page debating the merits of women's soccer in the Middle East, dozens of team photos and links to YouTube videos. A few angry comments criticizing women's soccer as culturally inappropriate have been deleted, though most are respectful, said one of the page's creators, Abdul Razaq al-Kabi.
"We have to respect their ideas and we can do a lot to convince them by showing how the girls play, how they are part of a bigger community," al-Hashimi said.
The UAE players also have to contend with siblings and parents who feel soccer undermines family traditions dictating that a woman's place is in the home. Several spoke of long fights just to play, including one player who no longer talks to her father and a second forced to quit the team for a month after her parents were inundated by complaints from friends and relatives.
"I just told them I cannot survive without playing football," said Nayla Ibrahim, a 25-year-old police officer who is one of the team's goalkeepers. "I was so depressed that I didn't even want to go to work."
Ibrahim's parents reneged and let her return. But they did not attend the championship game for fear they would be seen overly supporting her.
"From the bottom of their hearts," Ibrahim said, "I know they wanted to come and watch me."
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/19/v-print/1636595/uae-soccer-shows-status-of-female.html#ixzz0oP68Mllx

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IRAN: Girls soccer team must trade hijabs for hats to compete in Youth Olympics

An Iranian girls soccer team has reason to celebrate after the sport's world regulatory body amended its earlier ban on Islamic headscarves, which would have prevented them from competing in the first-ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this summer.
The decision by the International Federation of Football Assn., known as FIFA, has inspired Iran's team, the deputy head of the country's football federation, Farideh Shojaei, told the Associated Press. "They are determined to practice more and more."
The new compromise ruling says that, although the girls cannot play wearing the headscarf, or hijab, they will be allowed to wear "a cap that covers their heads to the hairline but does not extend below the ears to cover the neck," according to a statement issued by FIFA.
The initial decision to ban all head coverings was based on a 2007 ruling that the hijab violated the federation's governing manual, which states that a player's "basic compulsory equipment" must not have any "political, religious or personal statements."
Following word in early April that the girls would not be allowed to compete in August in the Youth Olympics if they wore headscarves, the head of Iran's football federation, Ali Kaffashian, flew to FIFA headquarters in Switzerland to hammer out a compromise.
“We sent FIFA a sample of our new Islamic dress, and fortunately they accepted it," Abbas Torabian, the director of the International Relations Committee of the Iran Football Federation, told the Tehran Times. "They announced that there was no objection if the players covered their hair with hats.”
The new agreement, announced Monday, appeared to appease Iranian authorities, who cast the new decision as a victory for Muslim athletes.
The Youth Olympics is scheduled to take place in Singapore from Aug. 14 to 26 and include more than 3,000 young athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 from around the world.
-- Meris Lutz in Beirut
Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/05/iran-girls-soccer-team-to-trade-hijabs-for-hats-for-youth-olympics-.html
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Women race in rare track meet in Hamas-ruled Gaza

About 40 women in tracksuits and headscarves have competed in a rare track meet in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The athletes ran 100, 400 and 1,500 meters in Saturday's championship. Some raced barefoot and others waved to cheering spectators during their races. Runner Ghada al-Zamt came third in the 1,500 meters. She says women's athletics are not encouraged in Gaza. Participants in Saturday's meet included university students and amateur athletes. Gaza's Muslim rulers — and most residents — disapprove of women's sports because it can reveal their body shape. It is also difficult for athletes to compete internationally because Gaza's borders have been virtually sealed by Israel and Egypt since the Hamas takeover in 2007.

Palestinian girls take part in a race during a track meet for Gazan women at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Saturday, May 8, 2010. The sporting event was co-sponsored by the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the UN in order to encourage Gazan women to do more sports. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Palestinian girls cheer for women athletes, not seen, during a track meet at Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Saturday, May 8, 2010. The sporting event was co-sponsored by the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the UN in order to encourage Gazan women to do more sports. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)


A Palestinian girl takes part in the long jump during a track meet at Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Saturday, May 8, 2010. The sporting event was co-sponsored by the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the UN in order to encourage Gazan women to do more sports. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Source: The Associated Press

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Women, Get Set, Go! At Madani High School

Muslim girls at an Islamic Faith School in Leicester prove sport and religion can mix with the Women, Get Set, Go! course from Sports Leaders UK.
This year, a group of Muslim girls at Madani High School have been given the opportunity to get involved in sport through a leadership award offered by Sports Leaders UK.
Women, Get Set, Go! is a personal development programme that has been specifically designed for women and girls aged 14 and over. The course encourages women to communicate with confidence, value their own skills, understand how the world of sport and leadership works, and to develop a personal action plan for their future involvement in sports leadership.
The course, which the Islamic Faith School started in January 2010, is delivered weekly, at lunchtimes to 15 enthusiastic girls, and it is already seeing some very positive results.
Miss Shakes, PE Teacher at Madani High School said: "It is hard for Muslim girls and women to get involved in sport because of cultural boundaries. Muslim women must follow their faith by not engaging in mixed gender sports and by observing a dress code. This consists of covering their hair and wearing modest clothing, including covering their arms and legs. This course helped in overcoming some of these barriers."
These girls at Madani High School are learning new skills in leadership, sport and communication, which will help them to progress and achieve a higher and wider range of expertise that will be reflected through all aspects of their lives.
"Candidates are thoroughly enjoying the Women, Get Set, Go! course and are keen to get more Muslim females involved in sport", said Miss Shakes.
Source: http://www.sportsleaders.org/whats-happening-in-your-region/west-midlands/women,-get-set,-go!-at-madani-high-school.aspx

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