Saudi Arabia wants to host the Asian Women's Cup

Saudi Arabia has expressed its desire to host the Asian Cup in women's football in 2026, in an additional step for the conservative country towards engaging in women's football, according to what was announced on Monday by the Continental and Saudi Federations of the game.

Saudi Arabia is competing to host the tournament with Jordan, Australia and Uzbekistan, and while the door for expressing desires was closed on Sunday, the decision will be taken “and announced during 2023,” according to the Continental Federation.

And the website of the Saudi Football Association quoted its president, Yasser Al-Mishal, as saying that the desire to host the tournament "comes from the premise of achieving new leaps in the field of women's football in the Kingdom, which the past months witnessed its launch despite its recent era."

He pointed out that "the ambitious plan for women's football in the Kingdom aims not only to spread the game or honorable representation in tournaments, but to provide the Saudi Federation with a distinctive version of women's football."

The Saudi women's team played its first international match last February, when it defeated Seychelles 2-0 in the Maldives, after it was established in 2021.

The wealthy country, which has been closed for decades, is looking forward to building a women's team capable of competing in foreign tournaments, something that was unimaginable a short time ago when the religious police imposed strict social rules on women.

Women were allowed to drive, the ban on mixing between men and women was ended, and the powers of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice were curtailed, knowing that Riyadh continues to face accusations by human rights organizations of repressing activists, intellectuals and clerics.

Last November, Riyadh announced the launch of the local league with the participation of 16 teams and under the supervision of the "Women's Football Department" of the Saudi Football Association, just a few years after the ban on women playing the game was lifted.

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