A female soccer coach stands near the stadium’s benches giving her instructions to the male players passing the ball to each other. 

“It is not common in Middle Eastern society for a woman to join a soccer team and there are very few teams for women's soccer in Egypt. Men still refuse to play against women in the same stadium, let alone being trained by a woman,” soccer team captain Fayza Haidar, 36, told Al-Monitor. She recounted how difficult it was for her to be accepted as a coach of male soccer teams. “I endured criticisms, attacks and challenges, but I made it,” she said.

Recently, Haidar became the first Egyptian coach accredited by the English Football Association to be among the Egyptian ambassadors in England along with Egyptian professional soccer players Mohamed Salah, Mohamed el-Neny, Trezeguet and Ahmed el-Mohamady. Haidar has broken several social norms in Egypt that restrict women's participation in sports, specifically in soccer, especially after she was appointed as the first female coach in the Premier Skills program. She also made it as the first general coach for a men’s soccer team in Egypt, as she was signed up by the fourth division side Ideal Goldi, one of the country's professional men's clubs.

“This is a big win for women. I am very excited and proud, and I hope this will pave the way for more girls and women to challenge the status quo and believe in themselves,” Haidar said.