Women's football in Lebanon

Women's football in Lebanon officially began in 2005, with the creation of the Lebanese Women's Football (LWF). Despite the prejudice women have faced for playing football, the sport's popularity has risen since the late 2010s. Indeed, Lebanon has achieved significant success within the West Asia region.

Women's football in Lebanon
The women's national team celebrating third place at the 2019 WAFF Women's Championship
CountryLebanon
Governing bodyLebanon Football Association
National team(s)Women's national team
First played1964 (unofficially)
2005 (officially)
Registered players650 (as of 2019)
Clubs8 (2022–23)
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

Founded in 2008, the Lebanese Women's Football League is the national club league; Sadaka won the league a record seven times. Internationally, Safa became the first Lebanese team to win the WAFF Women's Clubs Championship in 2022.

The senior national team, who made their debut in 2006, finished runners-up in the WAFF Women's Championship in 2022, and in third place twice in 2007 and 2019. The youth teams won the Arab U-17 Women's Cup in 2015, the WAFF U-18 Girls Championship in 2019 and 2022, and the WAFF U-16 Girls Championship in 2019 and 2023.

History

In 1964, the American University of Beirut (AUB) appointed their first-ever women's physical education teacher, Rose La Sorte from the United States. She introduced women's football to AUB's curriculum for the first time.[1]

It wasn't until October–November 1998 that the AUB formed a proper women's football team, under the initiative of student Luma Shihab-Eldin.[2] In February 1999, the AUB played their first game against the women's team of the Notre Dame University–Louaize (NDU), which finished 4–4.[3] Two other schools in Lebanon also had a women's football team: the American Community School Beirut (ACS) and the International College, Beirut (IC).[4] In 2002, the first interscholastic girls' football tournament was played.[2]

In 2005, the Lebanese Women's Football (LWF) committee was formed, affiliated to the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), to oversee the women's national teams.[5] From the late 2010s, football became more widespread among the female population in Lebanon.[6] Indeed, in 2019 there were 650 registered players, compared to 150 in 2005.[5] With the LFA investing more into the women's youth system, Lebanon has achieved considerable success within its region (West Asia) both at the national team and club levels.[6][7]

Clubs
Match between SAS and Safa in 2020

The Lebanese Women's Football League was founded in 2008, with Sadaka winning the first title.[8] They went on to win seven league titles in a row,[8] until they dissolved in 2014. From the 2014–15 season onwards, Stars Association for Sports (SAS) became the dominating force in Lebanon, winning six of the following eight league titles.[8] There are two domestic women's cup competitions in Lebanon: the Lebanese Women's FA Cup and the Lebanese Women's Super Cup.[9]

In 2019, Stars Association for Sports (SAS) finished runners-up in the inaugural edition of the WAFF Women's Clubs Championship, a club competition for teams from West Asia.[10] Safa became the first Lebanese team to win the competition, winning the final of the second edition in 2022.[11]

National team

Founded in 2005 as one of the earliest women's national teams in West Asia, the senior national team made it debut at the 2006 Arab Women's Championship, where they finished in last place.[12] They took part in their first official qualification tournament at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers.[13] Lebanon finished runners-up at the WAFF Women's Championship in 2022,[14] and in third place in 2007 and in 2019.[15][16]

At the youth level, Lebanon won the Arab U-17 Women's Cup in 2015, while in 2019 they won both the WAFF U-15 Girls Championship and the WAFF U-18 Girls Championship.[17][18] In 2022, Lebanon won the WAFF U-18 Girls Championship for the second time, defeating Syria 5–1 in the final as hosts,[19] and in 2023 they won their second WAFF U-16 Girls Championship.[20]

Reception

While not popular, the sport has mainly been played in affluent areas in Lebanon since the 2000s.[5][21] One of the barriers of the growing sport has been the prejudice that many women have faced for playing it.[22][23][24][25][26]

Women's football has become more popular since the late 2010s,[6] with increasing numbers in participation nationwide and more supporters (both women and men) in the stands.[5] Many parents also encourage their daughters to play.[6] However, while women's participation in football has been generally viewed positively in most cities, the more conservative communities still view football as a "male sport".[5]

In 2017, Doumouh Al Bakkar became the first Lebanese female referee to officiate a game between men, in a friendly game between Lebanese Premier League sides Safa and Tadamon Sour.[27] Regarding her experience refereeing a match between two top-tier men's clubs, Al Bakkar stated: "Some players were surprised at the idea of a woman officiating the game, others laughed. But of course, on the other hand, some were cooperative and offered me words of encouragement".[27]

See also

References
  1. "AUB has first women's physical education teacher". Outlook. American University of Beirut. 24 October 1964. p. 7.
  2. Assile Toufaily [@the.supersubs] (11 May 2023). "How has Women's Football developed in Lebanon?" – via Instagram.
  3. Abdul Hussein, Sara (June 1999). "Women's soccer team defeats NDU twice". Outlook. American University of Beirut. p. 21.
  4. Abdul-Hussain, Sara (March 1999). "Are the Girls up for the Challenge?". Outlook. American University of Beirut. p. 15.
  5. Wehbé, Johana (27 June 2019). "Au Liban aussi les femmes ont leur place sur un terrain de foot - Johana Wehbé". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  6. Afiouni, Nadim (4 March 2020). "Women's National Team head coach Wael Gharzeddine: the best is yet to come". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. FIFA.com. "Women's Football - News - New horizons for women's football in Lebanon - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  8. "Lebanon - List of Women Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  9. "Lebanon - List of Women Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  10. "Shabab Al Ordon claim title with perfect 10". the-AFC. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  11. بالصور: سيدات الصفاء اللبناني يحصدن لقب بطولة غرب اسيا [Lebanese club Safa win the WAFF Championship title]. Kooora (in Arabic). 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  12. "Arab Women's Football Cup – Egypt 2006". goalzz.com. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  13. "Lebanon's women breaking new ground". FIFA. 2 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  14. الأردن يتوج ببطولة السيدات السابعة.. ويضيف اللقب الخامس إلى سجله [Jordan win the seventh women's championship.. and add a fifth title to their record]. West Asian Football Federation (in Arabic). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  15. "West Asia Womens Championship". www.goalzz.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  16. "Perfect Jordan retain West Asian title". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  17. Abou Diab, Rami (16 December 2019). "Lebanon wins the 2019 U-15 West Asian Football Championship". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  18. "THE WAFF- Lebanon crowned the "WAFF U18" title". www.the-waff.com. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  19. "The Lebanese national team wins the third U-18 women's championship". the-Waff.com. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  20. "لبنان يهزم الاردن ويحتفظ بلقب اتحاد غرب آسيا للناشئات". Elsport News (in Arabic). Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  21. "Lebanon optimistic towards women's football future". AFC. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  22. "Lebanese women futsal players kick down barriers". The Times of India. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  23. "Lebanon's women breaking new ground". FIFA. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  24. "Lebanese women's football revolution". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  25. "Sports of The Times - A Female Kicker's Dream Continues at". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  26. "The all-female refugee football team smashing stereotypes". ActionAid UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  27. "الحكم الدولي دموع البقار.. تجربة أنثوية مميّزة في عالم الكرة!". Lebanon24 (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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