Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Women’s Football League in Sudan… A Dream to Become True?


Fri 23 Aug 2019 | 02:00 PM
Nawal Sayed

Women’s Football League in Sudan will kick off for first time ever next month, according to a report published by France Presse Agency on Wednesday.

One year ago, the league would have seemed unlikely under the rule of Islamist general Omar al-Bashir.

The championship will involve 18 clubs separated in three regions.

A federation official told AFP that the women’s football league will start in the first week of September.

“A national team was also in the works to represent Sudan in international events,” said Mirvat Hussein, the top federation official in charge of women’s football.

Political Shifts May Affect Sports Too

The announcement came on the same day as the swearing in of a joint military-civilian Sovereign Council in Sudan.

In the meantime, the body replaces a military council that took over in April when Bashir was forced from power.

In what was seen as a significant progress, two of the six civilians on the council are women.

Many Sudanese have voiced the hope that the three-year transition will see more liberal policies implemented across the country.

Speaking during a training session with her club Tahadi, 22-year-old Rayan Ibrahim Rajab said, “In the past, it was difficult for women to play football, there were many complications that prevented women from participating.”

“Now everybody is looking for a new reality and has new ambitions,” Rajab added.

Women’s Football Game Challenges in Sudan

Sudan joined FIFA in 1948 and established the CAF along with Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa.

But women’s football has faced an uphill task since the country adopted Islamic sharia law in 1983, six years after which Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup.

Moreover, there is an additional problem of a fatwa banning the creation of women's teams. The fatwa, issued by the Fiqh Council of Islamic,condemned the creation of a women's league in Sudan. The issuance of the fatwa was in 2006.

The first ever women's game to take place in the country that year in February between Tahadi (Challenge) and Sudan University at Sports’ City, Sudan University.

In November 2011, a female association member, Laila Khalid, attended a meeting in South Africa where women’s football league in Sudan was on the table of discussion. The meeting specifically mentioned the problems faced in growing the game in Africa.

On the other hand, an informal national team called "The Challenge" has been created inside the league. This team refuses to wear the hijab or wear traditional Muslim clothing while playing and is based in Khartoum.

The unofficial national team is not recognized by, nor receives support, from the Sudan Football Association.

In 2006, the team played its first competitive match. The team's captain was Sara Edward. The game was against a side from Sudan University that wore traditional garb.