Saudi Arabia Launches First Edition Of Women's Football League
New
Age Islam News Bureau
14
November 2021
•
Nigerian Interfaith Women's Group Awarded Aachen Peace Prize
•
Emirati Doctor Becomes First Arab Women To Get Elected As The IHF President
Designate
•
Two Women Journalists Reporting On Alleged Religious Vandalism In Tripura
Booked; To Appear On Nov 21
•
Princess Nourah bint Mohammed ‘impressed’ with golf uptake by Saudi women
•
Dubai: 3 Years In Jail For Woman Who Assaulted Police After Demanding To Be
Hired
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-arabia-women-football/d/125767
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Saudi
Arabia Launches First Edition Of Women's Football League
November
13, 2021
Representative
Image/Saudi Gazetter
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RIYADH
— The Saudi Arabian Football Federation launched on Saturday the first edition
of the Saudi Women’s Football League.
The
league, which will start on Nov.22, will be held in two phases through the
Regional League in its first phase, with the participation of 16 teams, and its
matches will be held in 3 cities (Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam) with the presence of
6 teams from each region (except for Dammam, four teams) to play in the league
system From two rounds, the top three places in Riyadh and Jeddah and the first
and second places in Dammam will qualify for the Kingdom Final Championship to
be held early next year in Jeddah at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, which
will be held in a one-match knockout system.
The
President of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation,
Yasser Al Misehal, indicated that this announcement is an important moment in
the career of the SAFF. He pointed out that the launch of the first official
league in the Kingdom was one of the SAFF's goals when inaugurating a special
department for women’s football.
"Today
we live in this moment, which has been achieved by the grace of God and then
the unlimited support of our wise leadership for all sectors, particularly in
the football sector," Al Misehal said
Al
Misehal explained that all the rules and regulations for the league have been
completed, stressing the federation's keenness to implement them due to the
importance of this edition in the path of Saudi women's football.
The
member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and
Director of the Women's Football Department, Lamia bin Bahian, extended her
thanks and gratitude to the wise leadership for the unlimited support and
attention that women's football enjoys.
Bin
Bahian said: “The moment we are living in today cannot be described by the
transformation of the dream of the Saudi Women’s League into a reality, We
enjoy unlimited support from our wise leadership, and in light of this support,
we are proceeding today at a steady pace according to an ambitious strategy in
which we all share passion, ambition and determination to advance women’s
football and reach it to the highest levels”.
She
added: "We have worked since the first day in the Women's Football
Department, which began under the supervision of Adwaa Al-Arifi, who made a
great and influential effort to complete the step of forming the first women's
league in particular, and support women's football in general".
It
is worth noting that the 16 participating clubs from the three regions are:
Al-Tahadi, Sama, Al-Himma, Al-Seham Al-Zarqa and Al-Yamamah (The middle region)
- Al-Asefah, Nosour Jeddah, Ittihad Al-Quwa, Al-Kora Al-Moshtaela and Al-Leith
Al-Abyad (Western region) - Shoulla Al-Sharqiah, Al-Mamlaka Al-Nisa’e, Al-Waha
and Ittihad Al-Nosour (Eastern region).
Source:
Saudi Gazette
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Emirati
Doctor Becomes First Arab Woman To Get Elected As The IHF President Designate
Photo: Supplied
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13
Nov 2021
The
United Arab Emirates achieved an important victory in the global health front
as Emirati Dr. Muna Tahlak, CEO of DHA’s Latifa Hospital for Women and Children
was elected as the President of the International Hospital Federation.
This
is the first time that an Arab woman will hold this esteemed position, the
highest international position in the history of the Union.
The
IHF Governing Council voted to elect Dr Tahlak as the new IHF President
Designate. In doing so, Dr Tahlak ends her term as Treasurer with IHF and now
begins her two-year term as President Designate of the IHF.
Commenting
on this important historic victory, Dr. Tahlak said, “I am honoured and I
extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to our wise leadership who have always
directed to empower women. Emirati women have held and continue to hold various
high-ranking positions and responsibilities across all fields. The country has
provided ample opportunities to support and nurture the growth of Emirati women
across all fields and specializations including the medical field.
“This
victory highlights not only the progress that Emirati women have made but also
reflects the position of the health sector in the UAE.”
She
stated that she will serve her tenure with utmost dedication and highly values this
opportunity.
She
added that her work with the IHF over the past five years has helped her gain
experience and gave her the opportunity to highlight the successful work of
hospitals in the UAE on a global scale.
His
Excellency Awadh Al Ketbi, Director General of the Dubai Health Authority
congratulated Dr Muna Tahlak on this important and historic victory.
He
said that this victory reflects the position of a developed country and the
contribution of Emirati women.
He
said it is a win for everyone in the health sector in the UAE who are
fulfilling their responsibilities and duties with dedication and sincerity.
His
Excellency Al Ketbi added that Emirati women have always been successful across
all fields, especially in the medical field, and greatly contribute to the
growth and development of the country.
It
is worth noting a few days ago the International Federation of Obstetrics and
Gynecology (FIGO) selected Dr Muna Tahlak, CEO of Latifa Hospital for Women and
Children for the for the position of FIGO Regional Trustee Africa - Eastern
Mediterranean 2021–2023.
Source:
Khaleej Times
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Nigerian
Interfaith Women's Group Awarded Aachen Peace Prize
The women of the WIC work toward peace in Nigeria/
DW.com
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12.11.2021
Uta
Steinwehr
"We
were so happy, we are still happy and will continue to be happy,"
exclaimed Daharatu Ahmed Aliyu. "And now we are international
superstars!" Elizabeth Majinya Abuk added, laughing.
The
two women arrived in Germany from Nigeria two days before they will receive the
Aachen Peace Prize on behalf of their organization, the Women's Interfaith
Council (WIC).
The
organization is being honored for its work in the Nigerian state of Kaduna,
where Christians and Muslims stand together for peaceful coexistence.
"A
society that neglects women can never develop, can never advance," said
Sister Veronica Onyeanisi, who took over the general management of the WIC in
2019.
"So
we try to give women a voice so that they can make a positive contribution to
society."
Kaduna,
in the northwest of the country, is the third-largest state in Nigeria with an
estimated 8.3 million inhabitants, according to data from the national
statistics agency. About 60% of the population is Muslim and 40% Christian.
Kaduna:
Once united
"Life
in Kaduna was once very beautiful," said Sister Veronica. "People
lived together peacefully, partying together, until religious fanatics and
politicians decided to use religion to divide people."
Religious
fighting had forced many Muslims to settle in the northern part of the state
and Christians in the south. Attacks, acts of violence and kidnappings occur
regularly.
Just
a few months ago, schoolchildren and students were kidnapped during several
incidents, which happened in quick succession, sometimes involving more than
100 young people, sometimes a dozen. Bandits also tried to extort ransom money.
WIC
was founded in 2010 to counter the effects of the escalating violence. The organization's
women visit victims of attacks, providing them with personal support and
organizing further training for other women and young people.
WIC
also offers support through a community, ensuring that women of both religions
unite and celebrate important holidays together.
Religion
used only as a pretext
According
to the WIC, the terrorists and bandits use religion to exercise power.
"The
Holy Bible and the Holy Quran speak of peaceful coexistence. Why don't the
leaders teach what is in the Scriptures?" Sister Veronica asked.
That
particular question prompted the WIC to organize seminars in which the basics
of Islam and Christianity are explained to attendees.
"Then
when people tell them the wrong thing, they can say, 'No, that's not what the
Scriptures say,'" Sister Veronica added.
The
WIC is made up of several thousand women who are organized in 23 individual
associations. Many are personally affected by violence, such as Elizabeth
Majinya Abuk, who coordinates the Christian organizations in the WIC.
Before
the WIC was founded, Abuk worked with Christian women's associations in Kaduna.
When WIC approached her to join the group, she initially hesitated. She had
just been dealt a severe blow. Her sister and her family were brutally killed
in a robbery.
But
Abuk has a "passion for peace," as she put it. And this helped her
not to give up, not to lose faith in the good cause, although further strokes
of fate followed in the following years. Most of her family members are
currently displaced in their own country, she said.
"I
don't want what happened to my family to happen to another person. And that's
why I pursue with all my strength, with all my thoughts the goal that we have
to live together peacefully," said Abuk.
Daharatu
Ahmed Aliyu — who represents the Muslim associations — never doubted her work:
"Everything has its time. It is not easy, there are so many
challenges," she said.
Aliyu
remembers the early days when, as a journalist, she initially reported on the
development of the WIC. A colleague in the editorial office thought it was a
joke that Christians and Muslims wanted to unite. "When the time comes for
the crisis to end, it will end," said Aliyu with confidence.
Including
men
In
order to achieve their goals, they also have to bring on board some men, who
usually have the main say in Kaduna's society.
Before
they start any project, the women visit traditional and religious leaders.
"We
are concerned about some of us because of their experiences with other
non-governmental organizations," said Sister Veronica. But the women at
WIC can be very convincing: "You know, God has given women a gift that no
one else has. Women can be there for anyone, no matter how tough the person
is."
Elizabeth
Abuk added that the WIC starts at an early stage by working with young people
in order to break down prejudices between religions and genders. Abuk is
certain that if young men could take on leadership roles, they would do better.
From
the point of view of the board of directors of the Aachen Peace Prize, the
commitment of women is "very worthy of the award," as Lea Heuser,
board member and press spokeswoman for the association, told DW.
Heuser
emphasized the "great solidarity of self-affected women towards other
women who are exposed to massive violence and a massive patriarchal system, but
who, despite their own traumas and experiences of violence, stand up against
it, support each other in very solidarity and live this solidarity across all
borders."
And
the result of the work speak for itself: Other states have already contacted
WIC and asked for help because they too want to create interreligious women's
councils, said Sister Veronica.
Source:
DW
https://www.dw.com/en/nigerian-interfaith-womens-group-awarded-aachen-peace-prize/a-59806114
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Two
Women Journalists Reporting On Alleged Religious Vandalism In Tripura Booked;
To Appear On Nov 21
By
Debraj Deb | Agartala |
November
14, 2021
Two
women journalists reporting on recent instances of alleged religious vandalism
in Tripura have been booked under sections relating to spreading communal
disharmony, committing insult with intent of provoking breach of peace and
criminal conspiracy.
The
FIR against Samriddhi K Sakunia and Swarna Jha, based on a complaint by local
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists, has been registered at Fatikroy police
station in Unakoti district where they have now been asked to appear on
November 21.
Unakoti
Superintendent of Police Rati Ranjan Debnath could not be contacted despite
repeated attempts. However, a senior official of Tripura Police, who didn’t
wish to be named, confirmed to indianexpress.com that an FIR had been
registered. “They were served notice under a case booked at Fatikroy police
station to appear in next seven days. They received the notice and assured that
they would come back in seven days,” he said.
In
a series of tweets, the two journalists claimed they were in Tripura for a
‘ground report’ on last month’s communal disturbances and had sought police
permission as well as protection for the same. However, in the video tweets,
they claimed the police collected their travel details citing grounds of
security and later posted cops outside their hotel, preventing them from going
anywhere. When the police later asked them to come in for questioning on ‘very
short notice’, they consulted their lawyers and later the police served them a
notice to appear again on November 21 here, the journalists claimed.
FIR🚨
in #Tripura@Jha_Swarnaa and I, the correspondent at @hwnewsnetwork have been
booked under 3 sections of IPC at the Fatikroy police station, Tripura.
VHP
filed complaint against me and @Jha_Swarnaa FIR has been filed under the
section: 120(B), 153(A)/ 504.
Copy
of FIR pic.twitter.com/a8XGC2Wjc5
—
Samriddhi K Sakunia (@Samriddhi0809) November 14, 2021
The
Tripura Police, in a tweet, has denied that cops were deployed outside the
journalists’ hotel. “…neither any police personnel was deployed outside their
hotel nor they were restrained from moving out. Police party went to hotel to
serve the legal notice as required under investigation of any case. The police
party left after serving the notice,” the tweet read.
pic.twitter.com/yw2Yjg5AfH
—
Tripura Police (@Tripura_Police) November 14, 2021
A
copy of the First Information Report (FIR) posted on Twitter by the journalists
showed the complainant was one Kanchan Das of Kumarghat who claimed as “part of
criminal conspiracy to destroy the communal harmony in Tripura as well as to
malign the VHP and Tripura government, the accused intentionally imparted the
name of VHP in that incident which could effect the harmony in between Hindu
and Muslim community”.
Sakunia,
in a video recording posted from the Twitter handle of Article 14, said they
went to Unakoti district yesterday. “When we went to Pal Bazar mosque, the
police was there with us during the entire time we were reporting and at
Chowmuhani Bazar mosque too,” she said.
Sakunia
said she received a call from a police officer at Dharmanagar at 8.30 am,
seeking her travel details. “We asked why he needed them. They also took our
Aadhaar card at the police station earlier, to which we asked why they would
need our Aadhaar card as we had our ID cards with our numbers and addresses,”
she added in the video. “We received three calls last night from the police at
Dharmanagar, who said it was all for our security,” she said, claiming that at
night they noticed “12-15 policemen… they came here around 9:30 and were
standing but they didn’t tell us anything”.
Sakunia
said she thought they were providing them security. However, while checking out
today morning to leave for Agartala, she said the police informed them an FIR
was registered against them at the local Fatikroy police station by a few VHP
activists. “The case was filed stating that we had disturbed communal harmony
and said we would have to come to Dharmanagar police station. We told them that
we need a lawyer and without him we can’t move,” Sakunia added. Showing 18-20
policemen standing behind her in the video, she said they were not allowed to
go anywhere from their hotel for over three hours.
“We
have spoken with them after three hours and they gave us this notice under
Section 41 A, in which they said they had to come to us at very short notice
and so, we would have to come back from Delhi with our lawyer on November 21,”
she said, adding that they would now have to take another train to reach
Agartala and could end up missing their flight back to Delhi.
Swarna
Jha, in another video, said they went down to the local police station after
their coverage to take bytes from officials but could not meet them. They later
received a call from Dharmanagar police station in the evening asking about
their travel details, which they provided after consulting with lawyers. “We
asked how they could summon us at such a short notice. We told them that to
change the appearing date to November 21 and they changed it. But there is a
question – is doing ground reporting a criminal offence?” Swarna asked in her
video.
The
notice served under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for
appearance before the police, Fatikroy police station in-charge Harendra
Debbarma said: “In exercise of the power conferred under sub-section 1 of sec.
41 A Cr.P.C, I do hereby inform you that FTK Case no 2021 FTK 039, dated
14/11/2021, U/S 120(b)/153(A)/504 IPC was registered at FTKPS against you and
others miscreants and for investigation of the case, there are reasonable
grounds to question you to ascertain the facts and circumstances from you.
Hence, you are directed to appear before the undersigned on or before
21/11/2021 with Identity card at Fatikroy PS complex in Unakoti District
Tripura. Otherwise lawful action will be taken against you as per law”.
Source:
Indian Express
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Princess
Nourah bint Mohammed ‘impressed’ with golf uptake by Saudi women
November
12, 2021
RIYADH:
Princess Nourah bint Mohammed Al-Faisal visited Royal Greens Golf & Country
Club on Thursday to see the progress Golf Saudi is making in terms of growing
participation in female sport in the Kingdom.
During
her first visit to a golf club, Princess Nourah took part in a golf clinic with
two Golf Saudi coaches, whilst watching her cousin Prince Khalid Al-Faisal play
an event as an amateur.
Picking
up a golf club for the first time, Princess Nourah was impressed and excited by
Golf Saudi’s Mass Participation program and what it meant for the future.
Princess
Nourah’s visit to the Aramco Team Series was inspired by her love of sport and
having lived in the UK for many years, she impressed by the quality of
facilities at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.
In
2020 she was appointed as a consultant by the Chairman of The Jockey Club Saudi
Arabia by His Royal Highness Prince Bandar Al-Faisal where she helped work on
the conceptualization of The Saudi Cup, as well as curating events for Riyadh
and Taif seasons.
Golf
Saudi and the Jockey Club Saudi Arabia (JCSA) are building a stronger
relationship to help boost participation in sport across the Kingdom. The JCSA
is looking to use golf as a way of engaging with global fans in both the U.S.
and Asia as well as working with Golf Saudi to discuss new opportunities.
“It
was very pleasing, a lot more fun than I expected and I loved it. I think I now
understand how people become obsessed with golf,” Princess Nourah said. “Sport
is essential to Saudi women, it opens up a whole new avenue of possibilities
for them, not just as an athlete but also for the career opportunities that are
being created for Saudis to work in the sports industry.
“Golf
is very new here in the Kingdom and to see women involved in the Aramco Team
Series is very important, as Saudi women will try to emulate what they’ve
seen.”
She
continued: "In 2020 the first female jockeys came to compete in the Saudi
Cup, which was a big deal for us. We now have young Saudi women who are
jockeys, have taken up training or now have jobs with the Jockey Club. There is
something about sports and its ability to help you focus, set goals, train hard
and achieve great things. So, the work Golf Saudi is doing to grow the women’s
game is highly commendable and it was fantastic to visit Royal Greens Golf
& Country Club for the first time and hear more about the work of the
Ladies First Club powered by Aramco and its efforts to boost participation, all
of which has left me in no doubt that the future of sport within the Kingdom is
very bright.”
Golf
Saudi’s Mass Participation program aims to grow the game of golf and boost
participation in Saudi Arabia and one initiative that Princess Nourah wanted to
learn more about was the “Ladies First Club powered by Aramco” which was
created exactly a year ago in 2020. Princess Nourah enjoyed a golf clinic and
as a result she will now be joining the Ladies First Club in a bid to encourage
other women to stay healthy and enjoy a new activity.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1966846/sport
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Dubai:
3 years in jail for woman who assaulted police after demanding to be hired
14
Nov 2021
A
31-year-old Asian woman was sentenced to three years in jail and deportation
for physically assaulting a policewoman on duty.
According
to case papers, the woman had walked into a police station last May and spoke
to the male duty officer in an Asian language. A translator said that she
wanted to be hired at the station, as she wanted to work with the police.
The
male officer testified that he had told the woman that applying for a job in
the force had specific channels. He then asked her to leave, and when she
refused, he had her escorted out of the premises by a policewoman.
The
victim stated that the woman kicked and hit her with her hands while she was
carrying out the duty officer's order. The woman was then overpowered and
transferred to the women's cell.
The
case was then referred to the Public Prosecution, and then to the Criminal
Court. The convict will be deported after she serves her jail sentence.
Source:
Khaleej Times
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