– They are used to the image of the boy having a football. When they see a girl, they are challenged. It doesn’t belong in the picture, says Ghaida In an interview with the Norwegian public broadcasting company NRK. (you switch to another service)
Ghaida is 21 years old. His parents are from Palestine. He has lived in Qatar since he was one year old. She is one of the few female soccer players in the country.
– I always think about football. When my friends suggested meeting up for the day, I say I can’t. This day is reserved for soccer practice.
NRK’s camera crew has been invited to the Northwestern University team’s closed practice outside the capital Doha. Many of the women did not come to practice because of the TV camera. The photographer has been given clear instructions on what can be photographed.
The level of play is not high, but these ladies clearly enjoy kicking the ball around. But in reality they are fighting for their rights.
Are people looking down on Ghaida because he plays football?
– I believe they don’t even look at me. I don’t exist because I’m a girl.
When Qatar applied to host the World Cup, the country promised to develop and promote women’s football. However, there was no football tradition in the country. In 2010, a few months after the World Cup hosting was confirmed, Qatar’s women’s national team was founded. The team played international matches under the famous German coach Monika Stabin under:
– We were ranked 108 in the Fifa ranking. We played several matches when I was a coach. Suddenly there were no more international matches, says Stab.
Qatar’s women’s national team unexpectedly disappeared. It played its last official match in 2014. The team lost to Bahrain 2–8. Now the national team can no longer be found in the Fifa ranking list.
– The country’s football association gave the reason that there are too few women in Qatar. It’s bullshit. I have worked in Guam which has a population of 170,000. Iceland has 400,000 people and the team played in the European Championships. It’s not about the population. It’s about Qatar not being serious about women’s football, says Stab.
– The fact that Qatar does not have a national team is really unmotivating, says Ghaida.
Ghaida is photographed and interviewed. Six young women are sitting on a bench and don’t want to be seen in the pictures.
– The teacher once stopped the lesson and asked five girls to stand up. He said he saw us playing with the boys through the window and said it was not acceptable. It was really humiliating and after that playing football at school became really embarrassing, says Ghaida.
The woman, who remains anonymous, talks about the risks associated with playing football.
– It affects a woman’s chances of getting married later in life. There won’t be many suitors for a woman if she is known to have been unconventional. Sport is considered unconventional by society.
Qatar is known to have six women’s teams. They played a league season this year. According to a local source, the teams have full lineups. A half lasts 30 minutes, but each team played only five matches. For example, one of the oldest clubs in Qatar, Al Khor SC, has a men’s team, but no women’s team.
– Where is the women’s league? Where do women play? Where are the teams for female players? It is a shame that there are no stadiums for women to play football in. The Football Association should make this possible. That’s not too much to ask, says Stab.
Several people have been asked for information on Qatari women’s football for this story. Emails have been sent to the President of the Women’s Sports Committee Lolwa to Al-Marr, to the Qatar Football Association and several players and coaches in various teams. The main questions were, how has Qatar promoted and developed women’s football in the country?
Three weeks after the NRK film crew’s trip to Qatar, there have still been no answers. The World Cup is organized by a country with strong contrasts. Men’s soccer gets a lot of attention, but women’s soccer is invisible.
Fifa also does not respond to NRK’s contacts regarding the issue. The goal of the International Football Association is that within a year all member countries must have a strategy for the promotion of women’s football.
– Sometimes I look at men and think that I would like to be there instead of them. I don’t think there should be such a feeling. If we were equal in football as well, no one would have to feel this way anymore. No girl had to be unmotivated, sad, angry or just watching men from the sidelines, says Ghaida.