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February 8, 2004

Arab All Stars Ladies XI break new ground

Friday, February 6, 2004

United Arab Emirates

In a ground-breaking event, an Arab All Stars Ladies XI drew 2-2 with Chelsea FC in a friendly in Dubai yesterday.

Made up of players from Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine, Libya and Jordan, the Arab All Stars twice took the lead against their more experienced counterparts, who play in England's Premier League, but were pinned back and eventually lost the game on penalties.

The real story though, is not that a team made up of occasional players from seven different countries who had never played as a team before this match acquitted themselves so well, but that it is remarkable that the game took place at all.

It augurs well for the future of the women's game in a part of the world where women do not always enjoy the same rights as men.

The game in the Al Shorta stadium was watched by a crowd of over 1,000 fans and burst into life after three minutes when Naima Alawadi of Morocco opened the scoring for the All Stars. Chelsea drew level three minutes later through Sam Jones.

In the second half the Arab All Star retook the lead at 68 minutes with a goal by Egypt's Dina Abdulhalim, but it did not last long. Chelsea equalized with Nina Downham's goal at 74 minutes.

The 'home' side continued to press for the win but to no avail, and the game was settled by penalties. The visiting Chelsea side won 5-3.

The players were congratulated for their efforts by Princess Princess Haya, a sister of King Abdallah II of Jordan. She is a keen follower of the game and promised to make every effort to ensure that more women's games take place in the Arab-speaking world.

The game was broadcast live on five different TV stations around the region.

"This is a clear message that women's football can be promoted at the highest level and watched in the Arab world," said Dr Sahar El Haway, a member of FIFA's women's committee. "We want to show people that women's football is a high profile sport which can become more and more accepted and appreciated by Arabic societies."