Palestine’s first international football referee has been selected to officiate at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with Heba Saadia also becoming one of the first Arab women to hold such a position.
Saadia, who officiated matches at the Women’s Asian Cup matches in India last year, studied physical education at university in Damascus before refereeing matches inside the Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp – once home to the largest Palestinian refugee community in Syria.
She was also part of a group who officiated matches at last year’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup in Vietnam.
She was a fourth official with the Syrian Football Association before the Syrian civil war forced her to leave. She went to Malaysia in 2012, where she began working for the Football Association of Malaysia.
Saadia received her international refereeing badge in 2016 while working with the Swedish Football Federation.
Last year, Saadoa spoke to Palestine TV Sports and Youth Channel, revealing how she first found her desire to referee.
“I was watching a group of referees train and noticed they had no women among them,” she said.
“When I asked them about it, they suggested I join them, so I did.”
Secretary general of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Firas Abu Hilal, said Saadia’s latest appointment will inspire other Palestinian women to pursue their dreams.
Read the article by Jessie Tu in Women’s Agenda.