Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Women’s football in the UAE is moving confidently towards a promising future, driven by an integrated work system and a strategic vision extending until 2030, which aims to consolidate the country’s position on the regional and continental arenas, and is moving towards launching a professional women’s league in the near future.
This journey reflects a remarkable development on the ground, as Abu Dhabi Women’s Sports Club won the West Asian Club Championship in 2019, becoming the first Emirati team to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League. The UAE women’s national team has also achieved positive results in West Asian championships and foreign participations, which has contributed to improving its continental ranking, amid the Football Association’s ongoing efforts to expand the player base and intensify opportunities for international contact.
These successes are based on a strong organizational infrastructure led by the UAE Football Association, which includes organizing a number of tournaments for women, most notably the Women’s Football League with the participation of clubs and institutions, and other competitions, which enjoy organizational and technical support from the Women’s Football Committee, which works to attract international coaches and experts to enhance the technical aspect of the system.
In the context of development plans, the Women’s Football Committee, in cooperation with the Football Association, has developed a strategic plan extending until 2030, focusing on building a generation of professional female players, enhancing community participation, and developing infrastructure, in addition to working to launch a professional women’s league during the intermediate stage, as well as developing age groups, and establishing regional training centers affiliated with the Federation.
The Federation, in cooperation with the Asian Football Confederation, also launched specialized programs to qualify cadres, most notably the Asian Women’s Training License, and women’s arbitration courses that witness wide participation from Emirati women, and a number of Emirati female referees also participate in managing local league matches, and some of them have been nominated on the list of the Asian arbitration elite.
In this context, Amal Bushlakh, Member of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Football Association and Chairwoman of the Women’s Football Committee, confirmed that the game is moving towards a promising future, thanks to the great support of the wise leadership, and the Football Association’s keenness to establish sustainable scientific and organizational foundations for development.
She said that the Women’s Football Committee is working according to a comprehensive strategic plan that aims to build an integrated system that includes competitions and national teams, develop talents, and qualify technical and administrative cadres, in a way that enhances the UAE’s position on the women’s football map at the regional and continental levels.
She explained that what has been achieved so far is the result of years of hard work and fruitful cooperation with governmental and educational institutions and clubs, expressing her hope that the upcoming participations in the Asian Cup qualifiers for Australia 2026 will be a new milestone that proves the extent of the development of women’s football in the Emirates.
Badriya Faisal, founder of Banat FC Club, pointed to the qualitative shift that the game has witnessed in recent years, from the increasing number of female players and teams and societal interest, stressing that football has become an effective means of social and cultural change.
Sports analyst Dr. Noura Al Marzouqi considered that the progress achieved by the game is clear evidence of the success of the approach followed, noting that the current development system focuses on the physical, psychological and tactical aspects, which enhances the team’s ability to compete with confidence in regional and international forums, and paves the way for a new generation of Emirati female players to make a difference in the future.
