FIFA President offers support to women’s football development during Saudi Arabian visit

FIFA President Gianni Infantino met with members of the women’s football development department of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) and with members of the Saudi Arabia national women’s futsal team during his visit to the country.

The FIFA President, accompanied by FIFA Deputy Secretary General - Football Mattias Grafström, and joined by Sports Minister HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal and SAFF President Yasser bin Hassan Al-Misehal, had the opportunity to discuss with players and officials and to stress the importance of the ongoing development of women’s football in Saudi Arabia, in line with FIFA’s overall strategy for the sport. The discussions were further supported by an in-depth presentation of the strategy for the future development of women’s football from SAFF Board Member Adwaa Al-Arifi and SAFF Women’s Football Development Director Lamia Baiyan.

In particular, the SAFF have taken several positive steps recently in the development of women’s football in Saudi Arabia, announcing the creation of a dedicated women’s football department to promote and encourage female participation in the kingdom as well as launching the first-ever women’s football league in 2020, which featured around 600 players from 24 teams.

“A lot has changed in Saudi Arabia in the recent past. Women’s football is now played in the country and we need to support its development. FIFA needs to work together with the SAFF in order to ensure a bright future for women’s football in Saudi Arabia,” the FIFA President said, reiterating what he had mentioned in earlier discussions with Saudi Arabia’s leadership.