Shafaqna English– Women’s football in Egypt is on the rise despite challenges. For hundreds of Egyptian female footballers, the field was a battlefield – not against opponents, but against generational scepticism.
“It wasn’t always normal for girls to play football,” Amira Mohamed said. “It felt like no one took us seriously. But we kept going anyway. We played in silence, with no audience, just for the love of the game.”
Growing up, Mohamed dreamed of playing under stadium lights one day, wearing the jersey of either Al Ahly or Zamalek, Egypt’s two biggest teams, and hearing her name called out by commentators. Back then, it felt impossible, “a fantasy reserved only for boys”, as she put it.
But over the past decade, change came, although slow and gruelling. “Things have changed,” she told Al-Jazeera. “It’s now easier as big clubs are investing, matches are on TV, and dreams we used to hide are finally being seen.”
For as long as Egyptians have known football, it has been a man’s game, played in dusty alleyways, cheered from packed stadiums, and broadcast on television screens across the country. Most women, however, watched from the side-lines. That dynamic, for the most part, still holds. But in 2024, something shifted. For the first time, Egypt’s Women’s Premier League was broadcast on national television, and for players like Mohamed, it was a moment when their dreams finally felt achievable.
Launched in 1998, the women’s league limped along in obscurity for years, with few clubs willing to support it, and as recently as 2021, it featured just 11 teams. But the past few years have brought unprecedented change. Five new clubs have joined, and youth teams for girls in the under-15 classification, and even at an under-13 level, have been introduced. Even mega clubs like Al-Ahly and Zamalek have established women’s squads, driven not only by FIFA regulations but also by a growing awareness of the potential and power of women in sport.
And now, Egypt’s ON Sports satellite channel has done something unprecedented; women’s league matches are now on TV, particularly those featuring marquee clubs, and in an added surprise, some of these fixtures now include post-match analysis.
The burgeoning movement also saw Egyptian players like Eman Hassan and Laila El-Behery sign professional contracts with international clubs, turning what was once seen as a hobby into a viable career path. Some parents are even now enrolling their daughters in residential football academies.