The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC)-sponsored Women’s University Football Cup kicked off this week, as another major milestone was reached in the commitment to bring inclusivity and diversity to football across the region.
The eight-team, five-a-side tournament is being hosted by the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). It will seek to make the sport more accessible for Qatar’s female university students.
SC Education and Sport Engagement Officer, Anfal al-Kandari, said: “The SC’s involvement is indicative of the organisation’s mission of promoting gender-based inclusiveness and access in the home nation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The tournament will go a long way towards realising these goals as well creating an awareness of healthy lifestyle among women.”
The tournament, which runs until 26 March, will also help to nurture women’s football talent in Qatar and further enhance the passion for the sport among Qatar’s women audiences. The tournament will also promote healthy lifestyle among the women of Qatar especially the country’s university students.
The participating teams are divided into two groups of four each with the hosts HBKU drawn in Group A along with College of the North Atlantic, Virginia Commonwealth University and Qatar Aeronautical College. Qatar University, Georgetown University, Carnegie Mellon University Qatar and Northwestern University in Qatar are in Group B. The top two sides in each group will qualify for the semi-finals on 21 March with the final, to be attended by SC Director of Communications Fatma al-Nuaimi, scheduled five days later.
