This week, Saudi Arabia inaugurated its first training camp for the women's futsal football team, which is set to provide much needed training to the women's team, who will be playing at the third Gulf Game, set to host in Kuwait, in May, as well as the third West Asian Futsal Championship for women in June. With Croatian coach Mato Stankovic handling supervision, the camp is set to provide technical and physical training sessions with the aim of raising the fitness and technical level of the players. The second phase of the program is set to run from April 16 to 25.
"Our goal now is for the national team to be fully prepared to participate in the Gulf Games in Kuwait, as well as the most important event for us is to participate in the West Asian Championship, which will be a main nucleus for our participation in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers and the upcoming sports participations," Alia Al-Rasheed, general supervisor of the women's national teams, had said in a press statement.
The Kingdom’s focus on supporting women’s participation in sports has been unwavering, and the establishment of this new camp is part of its ongoing efforts. Since 2019, futsal’s bigger relative, football has been gaining traction with women across Saudi Arabia and, in January this year, women’s football received a boost by staging its very first nationwide league. This was part of a bigger strategy in developing the nation's coaches, referees, and creation of the national women's football team. A total of 16 teams reportedly took part in the league.
"Starting the league had been a goal since we started working alongside government bodies. [...] Today, the dream has been achieved. Today, we saw joy among women, not only from the women who won the title but also from all of the women, who participated in the championship because participating in this competition was a dream for them," Ibrahim Al Kassim, the Secretary-General of the Saudi Football Federation (SAFF), was quoted in an article by fifa.com.
