Mai Yousef Al Mohammadi, a member of the Qatar Athletics Federation and of the Arab federation’s Women’s Committee, stressed the importance of the Women’s Committee’s role, affirming that this committee’s meetings will not be mere words on paper, but that every effort will be made to activate its role and to hold dedicated women’s championships at school level, as well as gatherings for female champions.
She added: “Undoubtedly the role of women is very important in athletics, and everyone always notices that women are prominent in officiating, public relations, organisation and competition. We are working hard to get Arab girls involved in the athletics community, because we have champions at Asian, international and world level too.”
She stressed that athletics allows girls to compete with or without the hijab, so there is no obstacle to achieving success.
Important recommendations at the Women’s Committee meeting
On the sidelines of the championship, the Arab federation’s Women’s Committee held its first meeting, attended by Algeria’s Sakina Boutamine, chair of the Women’s Committee and a federation board member, Qatar federation member and Arab federation Women’s Committee member Mai Yousef Al Mohammadi, Tunisia’s Thouraya Boussarsar and Egypt’s Abeer Mohammed Rifai, while Sudan and Palestine were absent.
Arab federation president Suleiman Al Zaidi attended the opening of the session, and the most notable decisions to emerge from the meeting were a recommendation to spread awareness of athletics in Arab society through the media and government institutions, in addition to expanding the scope of competition for women.
It was also proposed to have a vice-president for Asia and a vice-president for Africa on the Women’s Committee, in addition to restructuring the committee and defining its responsibilities.
