Libya's Women Footballers Struggle On And Off Pitch

Libya's women footballers struggle on and off pitch

Libya's national women's football team is not only struggling on the pitch but also battling a conservative society that frowns on women playing sports in public at all.

Tripoli, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2018 ) :Libya's national women's football team is not only struggling on the pitch but also battling a conservative society that frowns on women playing sports in public at all.

Female athletes and women's teams have many critics in the patriarchal Muslim country. "Go cover yourself!" "Your place is at home.

" You're playing because "you have no man to educate you" -- such comments are hurled at players every time they train, said centre-forward Saida Saad.

Like her teammates, she wears thick tights under her shorts so as not to reveal too much skin. But for some critics, that's nowhere near enough. "For the love of sport, we resist," said Saad, from the eastern city of Benghazi.

"We are trying to change attitudes in society." She joined her teammates for a training session in the capital Tripoli's Sports City ahead of a two-leg African Cup qualifying match against Ethiopia earlier this month.