Saudi Women Were Able To Attend A Football Match And The Pictures Are Glorious

Life

Female football fans still need the permission of their male guardians to attend and are restricted to specially adapted "female only" seating areas.

Women in Saudi Arabia attended football matches for the first time in the kingdom's history on Friday.

The law change, made in October last year, is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's attempts at reforming deeply restrictive laws placed on women in Saudi Arabia.

الجوهرة يستعد لـ #دخول_العائلات_للملاعب pic.twitter.com/RM7OOqsyFu
— عداد مشاريع جدة (@3adad) January 7, 2018

On Friday afternoon women were admitted to the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah, to watch the al-Ahli team face off against al-Batin. Across the country, two more stadiums (in Riyadh and Dammam) will also admit women for the first time.

In 2016 a woman was arrested after she managed to sneak into a match.

Women, who will still need the permission of their male guardian to attend matches, will be restricted to specially adapted "female only" seating areas, cafes, and smoking zones. Mohammed al-Shalaibi, director of property and construction site 3adad.net, tweeted out images of the Jeddah stadium ahead of the match.

Female attendants were ready for the match at the Jeddah stadium.

هيئة الرياضة تخصص فريق عمل متكامل لتسهيل مهام دخول العائلات إلى مدرجات ملعب الجوهرة .
.

#الشعب_يرحب_دخول_النساء_للملاعب
. pic.twitter.com/nf7PSlGlFl
— أخبار السعودية (@SaudiNews50) January 12, 2018

Saudi football clubs tweeted out promotions for their family tickets for the game, as well as messages of support for the decision to admit women for the first time.

أسعار تذاكر #الأهلي_الباطن
في موقع مكاني:
- عائلات ٢٠ ريال
- موحد ٢٠ ريال
- منصة فضي ٣١٥ ريال
- منصة ذهبي ٧٣٥ ريال#الأهلي_يجمعنا #الأهلي_عائلة_واحدة #الأهلي pic.twitter.com/oq7rRc7kCv
— النادي الأهلي السعودي (@ALAHLI_FC) January 10, 2018

And women have been able to buy abayas – the long robes that they must wear in public – in a few of their teams' colors since November.

الاتحادي والاتحادية هما سند هذا النادي، فالنجاح لا يكتمل إلا بهم وباتحادهم لخدمة هذا الكيان العريق، بكم يكتمل المشهد.#اتحادي_قول_وفعل #روح_الاتحاد #فريقي pic.twitter.com/CLMWwjqdRn
— نادي الاتحاد السعودي (@ittihad) January 9, 2018

Women celebrated being able to watch matches, with video showing them arriving at the Jeddah stadium.

📹HISTORIC. Women & families arriving to @KASCJed Stadium for @AlAhli_FC v @AlBatinClub. The first time in #SaudiArabia🇸🇦's history women are allowed to attend football matches. pic.twitter.com/kcPOnrUbIF
— Ahdaaf (@ahdaafme) January 12, 2018

One of the clubs playing on Friday also tweeted out images of women arriving at the stadium.

#الدوري_السعودي_للمحترفين
الجولة 17#الأهلي_الباطن
صور من توافد جماهير النادي #الأهلي إلى ملعب مدينة الملك عبدالله الرياضية بجدة. الذي يشهد أول حضور للعائلات.

#الأهلي_عائلة_واحدة #الأهلي pic.twitter.com/mOCyzHReu1
— النادي الأهلي السعودي (@ALAHLI_FC) January 12, 2018

Lamya Khaled Nasser, 32, told AFP that the ability to go to Jeddah stadium "proves that we are heading for a prosperous future" and that she was "proud" to witness this "massive change" for her country.