Finally, Egyptian female club football has come into its own, thanks to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The game between Ahly and Zamalek, held at the grounds of the Zamalek Club, was dubbed as the first matchday of the 2024-25 Egyptian Women’s League Championship.
Oddly enough, both teams, whose game was dubbed by media and football fans as “The Women’s Classico”, were playing for the first time in the competition which started in 2000. In men’s football, Ahly and Zamalek are powerhouses in Egyptian football.
The game was officiated by FIFA and CAF female referee Shahenda Al-Magrabi.
Sahar Al-Hawari introduced and headed women’s football in Egypt in the late 1990s, creating the first EFA Women’s Football Committee in 1996. Later, the women’s football league officially launched in 2000 with a handful of teams, including Al-Maadin and Wadi Degla.
“But before that, we had a national team,” Al-Hawari said. “I toured all over Egypt to every part in the country, selected the best female calibers and professionals. It took some time to create the national team. We invited teams from abroad to Egypt to play friendly games. Then, we participated in the inaugural Women’s Football Cup in 1998, which was held in Nigeria. Though we lost in the first round, we were glad to compete and make history by participating in the first edition of the women’s WAFCON,” Al-Hawari said.
“Then, we decided to create the league. We encouraged teams to join; some did, but they were sort of underdog clubs. The big clubs refused to add women’s football to their sports activities,” she said, adding that she was nevertheless proud of the CAF decision which brought out the talents of women’s football.
CAF realised that most African countries have only women’s national teams but not women’s football clubs. Accordingly, almost two years ago, CAF took the decision to oblige clubs to form a women’s team or else they would be deprived of participating in the African Champions League and CAF Confederations Cup.
This is why we saw Egypt’s two football giants Ahly and Zamalek creating their women football teams, almost 25 years since the beginning of the league competition and making their first appearance in the Egyptian women’s league.
The Egyptian women’s league comprises 18 clubs: Zamalek, Ahly, Al-Mokawloon Al-Arab, Al-Masri, Zed FC, Wadi Degla, Al-Tayaran, Modern Sport, Palm Hills, Maadi and Yacht, Masr “Tutankhamun”, Ittihad Basyoun, Al-Bank Al-Ahly, Ittihad Alexandria, Pyramids FC, Delphi, Enpi and, El Gouna.
Football lovers and media were keen to follow the women’s derby, introducing and promoting the players, coaches and clubs.
Ahly’s Nigerian striker Charity Reuben scored twice in the 43rd and 74th minute. Zamalek Sebstia Akwi scored her only goal for her team in the 92nd.
Other matches saw record holder of 14 titles Wadi Degla beat Al-Tayaran 6-1 and title holder Tutankhamun FC beat Maadi 7-0.
Pyramids beat Ittihad of Alexandria 3-1, while Zed beat Masri 2-0. Modern sport crushed Palm Hills 7-0 while Al-Bank Al-Ahly defeated Ittihad Basyoun 5-0.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 10 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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