Lamia Bahaian: ‘Sky’s the limit’ for women’s football in Saudi Arabia after Premier League launch

Last Thursday football history was made in the Kingdom when the first-ever Saudi Women’s Premier League fixture took place between Al-Nassr and Sama at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium’s reserve pitch in Riyadh.

Over the following two days, six other teams — Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal, Al-Shabab, Al-Yamamah and Eastern Flames — made their bows in the new competition organized by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.

Arab News spoke exclusively to Lamia Bahaian, SAFF Women’s Football Department supervisor and board member, to get her thoughts on the landmark moment for Saudi sport.

Arab News: Tell us what this launch of the Women’s Premier League means to the federation and Saudi football?

Lamia Bahaian: I can confidently speak on behalf of everyone at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation that we were all extremely proud to finally see the moment come to life. The start of the premier league marked another historic milestone in the women’s game in Saudi Arabia. It is another step on our transformative journey. Thursday the 13th of October 2022 will go down in history for all the players and everyone who works tirelessly behind the scenes.

AN: In 2020 there was the Women’s Football League by Sports For All and in 2021 there was the Regional Football League. What lessons were learned from those two competitions that led to setting up the premier league?

LB: The 2020 Women’s Football League was organized by our dear friends at the Sports For All Federation. It set great foundations for what was to come next. It was the first of its kind and while it wasn’t considered “professional,” it still welcomed over 600 players from 24 teams, which are massive numbers.

We then organized our first league, the SAFF