Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - FIFA’s U-17 Women’s World Cup will kick off on September 30 in Jordan, the first time a Middle Eastern country hosts an international women’s football competition.

Line and 20 other girl footballers, including devout Muslims their heads covered by a scarf, have been practising hard for the tournament with a British coach. “Here in Jordan… it was frowned upon to see a girl play football. But now things have changed,” Line said.

She still remembers how she defied social conventions in the conservative kingdom when at a younger age she decided to join the boys of her neighbourhood in a game of football. Jordan — a key ally of the West — is a Muslim country with a Christian minority but both communities are weighed down by religious and social constraints like other nations in the Middle East.

For decades football was hands off for women but that changed in 2005 when the Jordanian federation — headed by Prince Ali, a half-brother of King Abdullah II — formed the first national female team.

Ali, a vice president of FIFA who ran but failed to be elected president of football’s world governing body, is credited with having helped Jordan’s bid to host the under-17 girls’ tournament. In May, FIFA said on its website that the first Jordanian women players who took to the pitch more than a decade ago “have impressed” and “did not disappoint”.

British coach Robbie Johnson is confident that the under-17 girls team will shine at the upcoming world cup. “This particular group are certainly keen to make a mark and certainly put the Middle East on the map,” Johnson told AFP as he worked the girls on one practice night.

The girls’ training for the big day is tough. Line — a striker — and teammates listen carefully as the coach details his strategy with specific instructions to the wingers and goalkeepers, while parents sit back and watch the practice unfold. “My goal is to get these players as competitive as possible and then who knows what may happen,” said Johnson.

Organisers of the tournament say it will reverberate beyond the pitch and contribute to change in Jordan and the wider Arab world. “We are using football like a platform for social change,” said Samar Nassar, a former member of Jordan’s national swimming team who heads the kingdom’s organising committee.

Jordanian female athlete Yasmeen Khair, is one such woman whose name is linked to change. A gymnast who won several awards over the years and the nickname “the kingdom’s butterfly”, Khair was among the first women football players to play for Jordan. FIFA chose her as “ambassador” of the under-17 world cup.


*Himalayan Times