Niamey (AFP)

"People criticize me but I don't care, I do what I want with my life", bluntly announced Faouzia Sidi Ahmed, 19, international defender from Niger: "I want to play football and I play football soccer".

In Niger, a predominantly Muslim country, women must defy prejudice and clichés if they want to play football.

Illustration: "Women's football is not allowed by Islam," Nigerian preacher Bizo Oumarou told AFP. The woman "can play sports for her health" or "to have the stamina to face war situations or for work", but "she must not go out in an outfit which will bring out parts of his body, especially the legs. "

"Religion is really a brake," laments Ali Mamadou, the national coach. "We still manage to get around a little bit and have a significant participation of these young girls. (But) we are in the infancy stage."

"My parents did not forbid me to play. We can be Muslim and play", assures Faouzia, in shorts, hair tied at the back of the head and who proudly sports the bib number 3 of the green-white-red jersey of the national team.

- "Waste of time" -

Faouzia started playing among the boys. Arrived at college, she was able to pursue football thanks to her physical education teacher. "I was then recruited by the AS Police (a Niamey club) where I played two years and now I play at the AS Garde Nationale", another club in the capital, she explains.

Young girls assure him: the practice of football is not incompatible with their religion. "I do my five daily prayers," said Aïchatou Mohamed, 16, wearing a cap of the national team that reconciles football and his profession as a seamstress. "People shouldn't think we are infidels because we play football."

Most of the players, middle school and high school girls, are concentrated in Niamey, the capital. Footballers are rare in other cities and completely absent from the countryside.

According to Amina Moussa, head of women's football development at the national federation, the country has 650 licensed players, out of 6,500 in total, for 22 clubs.

This year, the federation organized its very first women's championship, in which a dozen teams participated.

"I fell in love with soccer when I was very young (...) when I was playing with the boys in the neighborhood. Curious people applaud me even when I dribble the boys," explains Aichatou.

However, most are under strong pressure from those around them. "There are those who tell me: + playing ball is a waste of time for a girl +", admits Sadia Lawali Kaché, 17. "We are not a category of women apart!"

- "Tomboy" -

International goalkeeper Kadidja Ousmane, 19, said: "People called me a tomboy and said," A girl shouldn't be playing ball. "+ I didn't listen to them. And when I started traveling stranger to play matches, the same people said: + why do you travel a lot? + and I answered them: + it is thanks to this same football + ".

"If I get match bonuses, I give my mother a share and she prays for me," says Kadidja, who dreams of a professional career abroad.

Aware of the delay in women's football, the Nigerien Federation, supported by FIFA, NGOs and foreign chancelleries, is trying to move the lines through tournaments, donations of equipment and seeking to raise awareness among parents.

Faouzia, who is going to take her Bac this year, continues to kick the ball and announces: "I tell the parents: + let your children play, football also makes football intelligent! +"

© 2019 AFP