New Saudi Women’s Premier League kicks-off featuring five biggest local clubs and overseas players

RIYADH: Saudi sporting history was made on Thursday night as the SAFF Women’s Premier League marked its official launch with Al-Nassr defeating Sama at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium’s reserve pitch in Riyadh.

This marks the latest step taken by women’s football over the past few years in the Kingdom.

Last year’s inaugural Regional Women’s Football League was a big success, crowning three champions across Riyadh (Al-Yamamah), Jeddah (Jeddah Eagles) and Dammam (Eastern Flames), and welcoming more than 400 players from 16 teams. Riyadh side Al-Mamlaka then went on to claim the National Championship following an eight-team knockout battle in Jeddah.

Since then, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation has restructured the competition to launch the Premier League and First Division League.

The new structure has attracted traditional men’s Saudi Pro League clubs such as Asian Champions League champions Al-Hilal, in addition to Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Shabab, to join the new top-tier league.

The newly launched league has not only captured attention locally but has also welcomed an influx of talented players from across the region and rest of the world.

With a historic prize pool of almost $380,500 (SR1.43 million), the Premier League will see eight teams compete on a home-and-away basis over the next 14 weeks, for a total of 56 matches. Meanwhile, the First Division League, launching on Nov. 11, will play host to 17 teams from across the Kingdom who will battle over a prize pool of almost $175,580 (SR 660,000), with the champion promoted to the Premier League.

The new leagues come on the back of major progress across all areas of women’s football in Saudi Arabia, from youth development to coaching to