LONDON: The Challenge Riyadh football team won the inaugural Women’s Football League (WFL) Champions Cup on Thursday, taking home SR150,000 ($40,000) in prize money in the process.
The cup final was the culmination of the opening WFL season, the first league of its kind in Saudi Arabia, which started on Nov. 17 with 24 teams from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam taking part in a city qualification round before the semifinals and final.
The “final four” saw Challenge Riyadh beat Eastern Flames in the first semifinal, with Jeddah Eagles defeating The Storm in the other before the Riyadh team saw off their Jeddah rivals in the final.
The Sports for All Federation (SFA) President, Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, and Managing Director, Shaima Saleh Al-Husseini, along with other SFA dignitaries, were on hand to present the cup to the winning team.
“The Sports for All Federation, with the strong support of our Minister of Sports, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, was proud to award the first-ever winners of the Women’s Football League,” Prince Khaled said.
“This landmark moment in our country’s community-level sports history would not have been possible without the vision and forward trajectory laid out for us by His Majesty King Salman, and HRH the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
“The determination that our WFL players showed was matched only by the coaches, referees and on-group support team. I congratulate you all on living up to the high standard that His Majesty and His Royal Highness have set for us; today you have made Saudi Arabia proud,” he added.
The WFL is part of the SFA’s initiatives to encourage female sports participation, and with a view to developing and enhancing infrastructure for women in sports.
A team of coaches was assigned to the league’s newly formed teams, comprising four international coaches and four local coaches. Twelve of Asia’s leading female elite referees were flown to the Kingdom to referee all WFL matches, with training provided for a further 40 Saudi junior female referees.
The second season of the WFL will kick off in 2021.
