Staab appointed director of football; Lappi-Seppala takes over as coach of Saudi women’s team

RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s Women’s Football Department has announced the promotion of the country’s first-ever head coach Monika Staab to the newly created position of Women’s Football Technical Director.

In her new role, Staab will oversee the 360 degrees transformative development of the women’s game in Saudi Arabia and establish new structures that fulfill the sport’s potential from coaching to grassroots development to domestic competitions.

Meanwhile, former Finland women’s national team assistant manager and player Rosa Lappi-Seppala will take over the position as the new Saudi Arabian women’s national team head coach. She becomes just the second to hold the position since its establishment in September 2021.

Rosa already has experience with the ‘Green Falcons’ after playing an integral part of the of the coaching staff that led the squad to its first ever championship last month. She takes up her new role following an illustrious international playing and coaching career.

During her 1.5-year historic tenure leading the national team, Staab oversaw the first try-outs which welcomed over 700 players across three cities. Following the squad selection, she guided the team to seven international matches, recording four wins, two draws and just one defeat against Seychelles, Maldives, Bhutan, Pakistan, Comoros Islands and Mauritius. Her biggest accomplishment came last month when they were crowned champions of the four-team International Friendly Tournament held in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. The team is now on-route to be inducted into the FIFA Official Rankings List next month.

The 64-year-old German ran six national team training camps and conducted 9 C and B coaching courses featuring