After heavy investments in men’s football, Saudi Arabia now turning attention to the women’s game

Saudi Arabia is introducing fresh investment and vision to the world of sports. After announcing heavy investments to strengthen golf and men’s football, the Kingdom is now turning its attention to the women’s game.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has announced a groundbreaking funding initiative and support system for women’s football. The project is designed to improve women’s football leagues and the overall sport in the country.

The SAFF programme will support the Saudi Premier League and women’s first-division clubs. In order to be eligible for the funding, it’s essential for clubs to have a SAFF membership and Nafes licence to actively take part in all women’s tournaments organised by the federation.

The clubs must also meet all the technical and organisational requirements issued by SAFF. Apart from that, it’s also essential for them to show their commitment to a financial efficiency system to be eligible for the funding.

As part of the announcements, the federation will allocate $13 million to women’s football programmes across Saudi Arabia. The newly elected vice-president of SAFF said the step comes in line with their dedication to developing its thriving women’s football presence in the country.

Lamia Bahaian said they wanted to inspire girls that a career in the sport is not only possible but also promising. She highlighted a key motivation behind the announcement, stressing “an incredible 30% growth in women’s football clubs and players” across the Kingdom over the past year.

Among the many goals of the groundbreaking programme are developing workforce by appointing Saudi female coaches, recruiting women in different positions, expanding competitions to include different teams, and developing athletes to represent national teams.

Saudi Arabia has been seeing remarkable progress in women’s sports, with more than 190,000 females now counted among active participants in different disciplines. Around 50 female referees are currently officiating league matches.