It was a night filled with pleasure and enjoyment for Somali women to witness young girls standing on the stage to receive their official documents of recognition as football referees in Somalia, a country where once it was shame and un-islamic behavior for women to be involved in the beautiful game.
Saturday night, 8th of February 2025, marked another beautiful comeback for Somali women, when twelve hijab-wearing girls dressed in the loose-fitting Islamic dress worn from shoulder to feet stood on the stage, while holding their certificates of graduation as new referees to show their excitement. The gala dinner organized by Somali Football Federation, was intended to encourage the girls and welcome them to their new environment of football.
Female Referees Presented
The president of Somali Football Federation, Ali Abdi Mohamed, presented the new female referees their official documents as match officials and commended them for being true heroes.
“Our female referees will wear a specially designed football referee clothing that is compatible with the Islamic sharia law. They will be well-covered and will officiate football matches” Somali Football Federation president, Ali Abdi Mohamed, said during his address at the gala dinner.
“In Somalia, football matches are played after Asir Salat and are finished before Maghrib so our players and officials don’t miss Maghrib prayers. This means we play football and in the meantime we perform our Islamic duties” president Ali Abdi Mohamed, explained.
A Beautiful Comeback
In 2009, Somali Football Federation trained the first two female referees to start with women’s football. The duo, Suweys Ali Jama and Samia Yusuf Omar, also participated at a FIFA-level training course for Somali football referees organized in the neighboring Djibouti in March 2010, as it was unsafe for FIFA instructors to come to Somalia at the time. Due to the situation in Somalia, they were unable to continue working as referees. Suweys quit the job and sadly Samia died in the Mediterranean Sea in 2012 while trying to reach Europe.
Now some 15 years later, twelve female referees have been trained to mark the return of women’s football refereeing in Somalia. Last year Somalia also trained 9 Female football coaches who became the first ever women coaches in the country. Wishing good luck to the new Somali Female football referees and coaches.
