Women's football in the Middle East + mid-Asia

Because it needs a place to be discussed, so bring your news, stories, vids and general chit-chat about women's soccer in any of these parts of the world:

(map by OgreBot, cc)
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In football terms they're WAFF, CAFA and SAFF – we hear about them at tournaments, but maybe not so much the rest of the time. They're all huge regions that should have their own threads someday, hence the vague title. ("Mid-Asia? I thought she played for Holland")

The situation varies widely – some FAs are very supportive of women's and girls' football, while others are operating in nations where women's rights may be under attack, or the country may have other major problems.



There is a Syria women's national team, although not much info on them. They first played in 2005 with some success, before Syria's descent into civil war. The team surprisingly competed in 2017 in their first ever AFC Asian/World Cup qualifiers, in Vietnam, but lost all four games. Not winning, but taking part.


Kurdish teams in Iran and Syria have faced various problems - having their championships ignored, or just struggling to form a league:
- http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/...n-football-players-fight-for-equality-in-Iran (Archived)
- https://iwpr.net/global-voices/women-kick-storm-syrian-football (Archived)


Iraq recently pulled its teams out of the AFC U16 and U19 Women's Championships:
- http://socceriraq.net/2018/05/31/iraq-take-one-step-forward-two-steps-back-in-womens-football/ (Archived)


The Wikipedia article, Women's football in Saudi Arabia, is a fairly wacky read (and longer than you might expect). In 2018 women have gained the right to go to men's matches, and female teams may not be far away. In neighbouring Kuwait, a 7-a-side league began in 2017.


Jordan broke new ground in hosting the Middle East's first world woso tournament in 2016, the U17 World Cup. Similarly with the 2018 Women's Asian Cup, although the Jordanian team couldn't match their east Asian opponents.


- https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/society/2016/10/1/jordan-kicks-off-u17-womens-football-world-cup (Archived)

In the Himalayas, Bhutan has been supporting its Women's Super League by livestreaming it and holding the matches in the National Stadium, Changlimithang. This was last game of the 2018 season between the top 2 teams, Sunrise Women's and BFF Academy, with awesome pregame music:
- https://mycujoo.tv/video/bhutan-football?hid=459344&id=19641

 

And some SAFF stuff from South Asia:

The last SAFF Women's Championship took place at the turn of the year 2016/17 (thread with @lil_one, @Lechus7 & @toad455, thx for the info!)

This was the final, with India and Bangladesh:



- https://scroll.in/latest/825887/football-india-beat-bangladesh-3-1-to-win-saff-womens-championship (Archived)

The tournament was a good one for Nepal striker Sabitra Bhandari, who helped her team to the semi-finals. Bhandari has become her country's female soccer star, and her club team (from Kathmandu) beat Hong Kong in an away friendly. The club's name APF means Armed Police Force, maybe that's why they win.

You may have noticed Pakistan weren't in the SAFF Championship in 2016, because the Pakistan Football Federation, in the midst of an internal crisis, refused to participate in the tournament (in India).

At the same time, Pakistani women's football was still in shock at the death of striker Shahlyla Baloch two months earlier, aged 20:

- https://tribune.com.pk/story/1198725/2015-interview-shahlyla-baloch-will-put-smile-face/ (Archived)
- http://www.footballpakistan.com/2016/12/no-7-jersey-retired-in-memory-of-shahlyla-express-tribune/ (Archived)


Sri Lanka will host the 2018 SAFF Championship from Dec 17-26


In junior football, the South Asian federation has stepped it up in 2017 and 2018. The first SAFF U15 women's cup was held in December 2017, with four teams, and the hosts Bangladesh won – the first time India lost a SAFF women's event, AFAIK.

- https://www.dhakatribune.com/sport/...girls-beat-india-lift-saff-u-15-championship/ (Archived)



A second edition was held this month at Bhutan's National Stadium, with six teams including Pakistan, who left goalless. This time the final's result was reversed, as India took the title 1-0. (Match report / Archived)

For the players of the near future, a SAFF U18 women's tournament, the first of its kind, is planned with six teams. As the U15 was, it'll be hosted by Bhutan, from Sep 28-Oct 7.

Changlimithang stadium, the home of football in Bhutan
(photo: Antonio Morales Garcia, cc-by-sa)​

 

This week

(Mostly videos, because it's been a bit 'wordy')

The United Arab Emirates, one of the strongest WAFF West Asian nations a few years ago.

UAE made an unbelievable start in 2010 when they won in their first tournament, and UAE retained the trophy at the 2011 WAFF Championship, both times as hosts.




The country's FA made a number of commitments including setting up a league, and Horiya al-Dhahiri became the first Emirati woman to get the coaching 'A' licence.





This comes at a time when women's involvement in other sports has increased.

However, UAE didn't enter the 2014 WAFF Championship.




Asian Cup qualifiers in April 2017:

Group A was a kind of unofficial WAFF tournament, with 4 out of 6 teams hailing from the Middle East. Jordan blew the competition away with five wins, while UAE's star has fallen, as they lost heavily to the Jordanians. The games' goals are also online.

Bahrain 0 Jordan 6
Jordan 6 UAE 0
UAE 1 Bahrain 1
Jordan 10 Iraq 0
Bahrain 4 Iraq 0

(Iraq v UAE is online in full)

 

Indian football... where is a good place to start?

It's almost too big to begin to comprehend. 2017 was the first year of the Indian Women's League (IWL), with a finals tournament early that year for 6 teams. Semifinalists, the northern club of Alakhpura, had an interesting story:

- https://www.sportsavour.com/girls-alakhpura-haryanis-broke-stereotype-change-archetypal-society/


In Pakistan, teams are registering for the national women's league, but there are some doubts about it. Also calls for a foreign female coach for Pakistan:

- https://tribune.com.pk/story/1804887/7-womens-football-dire-need-attention/ (Archived)

That's starting today at the nice stadium, including a livestream.

The India team will use this tournament to prepare for the Asian AFC U19 qualifiers in Thailand. For other teams, the ambitions range from winning the title to getting important experience in internationals, as the coaches say:

- http://www.bbs.bt/news/?p=104212 (Archived)

 

SAFF U18 update: In the semi-finals, Nepal beat India – the first time any Nepal women's team has ever done this (?) or so it seems.

The win was in a penalty shootout (video) after a 1-1 draw. Nepal's goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar scored one and made some saves, to put her team into the final. (Match report / Archived) The final is today, Nepal v Bangladesh.
The India and Nepal U19 teams will meet in AFC qualifiers in a few weeks in Thailand.

 

SAFF U18 final: Bangladesh are the champions, by only a 1-0 margin over Nepal. The winning goal was a 47th-minute header by Masura Parvin, and the top-scorer was Sirat Jahan Shopna of Bangladesh. (Match report / Archived)

So, Bangladesh held the U15 trophy, and now they've won the inaugural U18 title. Can they add the senior SAFF Women's Championship in December? India have won all 4 so far.

 

AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers news still to come.

In Pakistan this week, the National Women Football Championship was held for the first time since 2014. The champions for 2018 are the Pakistan Army team, who won on penalties against WAPDA. (Match report / Archived)
The country's football scene is riddled with problems, as this tournament was too. But the Tribune's disapproving report does make it sound exciting

- https://tribune.com.pk/story/1832052/7-national-womens-championship-disorganised-disorderly-not/ (Archived)

 

Should mention, India has had a national tournament for state rep teams since 1991 – the Senior Women's National Football Championship. The dominant team in its history is Manipur, the eastern state on the Myanmar border. The 24th championship was in Sep-Oct 2018, and Manipur regained the trophy. The previous championship was only 6 months earlier, when Tamil Nadu won. (Match report / Archived)

 

Iran's U19s are competing in AFC qualifying in Myanmar this month, but at home the country has made international headlines again.

Women are banned from going to men's matches by the highly conservative Iranian government.

This month a small group of around 100 women, apparently including female players, were allowed to see the Iran-Bolivia men's game in Tehran. This small victory enraged Iran's prosecutor-general, who predictably condemned it in hilarious terms. (Yes, this is what he really said)

There is some doubt whether Islamic Shari'a law agrees with this, or if he's making stuff up. (For some reason, nobody asked the women.)

FIFA is implicated in this too, as it's a breach of their human rights policy, while they sit on their hands, and FIFA officials attend these men-only games. Even Saudi Arabia is ahead of Iran on this issue, with a few clubs admitting female fans in 2018.

On this topic, I recommend everyone to watch the Iranian film Offside, starring Sima Mobarak Shahi. It's one of the best soccer movies, without much actual soccer.

- www.youtube.com/watch?v=2958T-moQLA

Offside - 2006
Directed by Jafar Panahi
Filmed almost entirely during an actual 2005 Iran-Bahrain match that resulted in Iran's qualification for the 2006 World Cup, several young Iranian girls, barred from attending soccer matches under the laws of the Islamic Republic, attempt to sneak into Tehran's Azadi Stadium by dressing up as boys. When their attempts to blend in with the crowd are easily discovered they are forced to spend the remainder of the game in a holding pen. The girls question the laws that prevent them from sharing a national victory and win sympathy from the soldiers, bound by duty, to watch them. (Firouzan Films)

 

Jordan midfielder Stephanie Al-Naber was featured in the AFC campaign "It's My Game", where she talked about football in the Middle Eastern country, including hosting the 2018 Asian Cup:

- twitter.com/theafcdotcom/status/1008600909696327680

Some of the other videos in the campaign:

- http://www.the-afc.com/competitions...rom-jordan-and-palestine-star-in-afc-campaign

 

AFC U19 qualifying in October 2018

The only west-central Asian team who reached the 2017 Championship were Uzbekistan. They're still on course for 2019: they won their group, thanks to 7 goals by Shahnoza Kurbonova, and a 3-1 win over the hosts Kyrgyzstan. New entrants the UAE had 2-1 and 3-1 defeats against the Central Asians, and won their other games.

Lebanon reached the next round as runners-up to Australia, in a group hosted by the Lebanese federation. Head-to-head it ended 2-0 to Australia. Jordan couldn't qualify in their group in Vietnam, but Jordan beat Malaysia and Singapore.

Group B was tight: Thailand, Nepal and India all on 6 points. Nepal went to the next round, after beating India 2-0. There was also a 1-0 win for India (in white) over the home team Thailand with a frenetic atmosphere.

More info in the thread:
- https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/afc-u-19-championship-2019.2088300/

 

And the Iran U19s advanced from their group in Myanmar. There's an interview with their coach Katayoun Khosrowyar, born in the U.S., the first 'A'-licenced female coach in Iran. She was also watching at that men's game in Tehran, mentioned above:

- www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-u-19-womens-championship/latest/news/the-coach-transforming-ir-iran-s-women-s-game (Archived)

 

In futsal, Iran established their dominance by winning the first AFC tournament in 2015, and then an emphatic victory in the 2018 AFC Women's Futsal Championship. Both times they beat Japan in the final. This follows similar success in men's futsal, but Iranian media coverage for the women was nonexistent.

Iran 5 - 2 Japan - Final Match Day News
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKWtpqt_dic

- https://observers.france24.com/en/20180518-iranian-frustrated-coverage-women-futsal-team (Archived)

Iranian futsal in 2018 (photo: Farsnews.com, cc-by)​

 

More news - 500 to 800 women went to the Asian Champions League men's match at Azadi Stadium this month. "Most were believed to be relatives of players or members of Iran’s female football and futsal teams and football federation employees." It seems like the ban is coming to some kind of crunch point.

- http://keirradnedge.com/2018/11/10/women-fans-progress/ (Archived)

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In CAFA (Central Asia), this is the region's first women's championship at senior level, hosted by Uzbekistan. Sadly, for Afghanistan it's a miserable experience, thanks to their federation:

2018 CAFA Championship
- www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2018-cafa-championship.2089570/

 

Awful story. They said FIFA and the UN have been investigating this for some time privately, trying to protect the players still in Afghanistan.

The Afghan team started in 2007, and in 2009 some of the players were interviewed on an episode of Trans World Sport.

Afghanistan - Football Returns and Women's Football (2009)
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=POSbo87bOEA&t=4m28s

Khalida Popal appeared as an U18 team player in an AFP news report in 2010. Popal was an Afghanistan player, but fled the country in 2011. Popal talked more about that time in the first article below.

Afghanistan's coach is Kelly Lindsey, who had 4 caps for the U.S., and earlier she told of the dangers and prejudices the Afghan players often face. It's unimaginable, and the information helps to make some sense of the current situation. Now she and Popal are both central in bringing forward these allegations.

Khalida Popal: Ex-Afghanistan women's captain on risks of playing football (2017)
- www.bbc.com/sport/football/39671596

Kelly Lindsey: Afghanistan women's coach says it is 'life or death' for players (April 2018)
- www.bbc.com/sport/football/43167059

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On a... slightly... lighter note, Saudi Arabia tried to re-draw the map and make a new international conglomeration called SWAFF, for South and West Asia, but only for nations that were friendly with Saudi Arabia, because they're fighting politically with Qatar, Jordan and others.

The thing fell apart when it became clear it was a power-grab:

The Indian AIFF president said they weren't initially told that the new group would divide West Asia. The suspiciously slick SWAFF website promised to promote gender equality, which is a joke when it comes to Saudi Arabian football.

It's a useful phrase, "sportwashing": trying to use sport to whitewash a country's bad image. Hmm, where else does that happen.....?

 

Qatar, yes... They have a women's team, who appear in this travelogue:

World Cup in Qatar 2022, but not for women (DW-TV)
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=908pQ47HlXc

Women's football is poorly treated there, and the national team didn't enter the 2018 women's Asian Cup. Qatar hosted Afghanistan's women in 2012, in one of AFG's most prestigious wins so far, 2-0 in Doha.

- https://www.womenssoccerunited.com/...ry-with-a-friendly-match-against-afghanistan/ (Archived)
Photos
- http://armstrongvaz.blogspot.com/2012/02/afghanistan-defeat-qatar-in-womens_18.html (Archived)

(I'll try to get more info on Qatar soon.)