Soccer in Arab countries
My question: In the good old days, soccer was a man's game in England and Europe generally. Women's soccer seems
to be an American invention. Is it now practised in England, etc? I await a posting on "The globalization of women's
soccer". Now I remember: the American women beat the Chinese team, so East and West have met in women's
soccer.
Ronald Hilton - 6/1/02
Arab expert Miles Seeley answers the question about Arabs and soccer: "In Morocco and Jordan and Saudi Arabia,
where I lived, soccer was the national game and every little boy seemed to play. Sometimes they only had a bunch of
rags tied together for a ball, or they would use any ball of any size, but you would see pickup games everywhere. Often
there would be just one or two little boys kicking away. The Saudi national team is pretty good and has the support of
the Royal Family, meaning there is no lack of money and facilities. Top players are given cars and houses and enjoy
fame and fortune. In the Arab world, girls don't play, or at least they didn't when I was there".
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