Blog Post #1

In an article posted in the Eurasia Review, author James Dorsey discusses the recent campaign of Middle Eastern soccer associations to put women's soccer on par with men's football. The associations announced the campaign at the end of a two-day seminar organized by the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) and the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP). In a region where a woman's right to play and pursue an athletic career remains highly controversial, there has been a continuous fight for greater and equal rights as this part of the world enters a period of dramatic political and social change.

Most Middle Eastern countries believe that female sports constitute "steps of the devil" that will encourage immorality and reduce women's chances of meeting the requirements for marriage. Kuwaiti Islamists insist that, "Women playing football is unacceptable and contrary to human nature and good customs." In Saudi Arabia, there is no physical education for girls in schools, and they have recently hired consultants to draft its first ever five-year national sports plan, but for men only.

FIFA's Vice President and AFDP Chairman Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein defined "an athletic woman" as "an empowered woman who further empowers her community." The seminar emphasized the right of women to play soccer irrespective of "culture, religion, and race; a women's right to opt for soccer as a career rather than only as a sport; and soccer's ability to promote gender equality and level the playing field on and off the pitch." The new campaign will kick off with a WAFF Girls Football Festival on International Women's Day on March 8.

As a soccer player myself, I couldn't imagine not having the opportunity to do something I love because my country forbid it. In today's day and age, women in these parts of the world should undoubtedly have the same rights as men, especially when it comes to health and athletics.







http://www.eurasiareview.com/14012013-middle-east-soccer-associations-campaign-for-womens-right-to-play/