Written by Garan A. Malak
Published on 22nd of February 2021
South Sudan last weekend held its first ever Women National Football League since it seceded from Sudan nine years ago.
Addressing members of the press on Friday, Francis Amin, South Sudan Football Association President expressed gratitude to his administration for making what was a dream a reality.
“As the president of South Sudan football governing body, I initiated the women league program to follow Fifa standards and the professional way of playing and building women’s football.
“I am very happy that we are going to kick off the first ever women’s league in South Sudan. It started as a dream, but it is now becoming a reality” said Francis.
All the eight teams taking part in the Women’s National League represent various regions of South Sudan.
During the weekend’s games, Torit women team put eight past Wau women team, while Yambio women team was beaten 3-0 by Yei women team. The Bentiu team scored a first half goal that gave them a 1-0 win against the Kaujok women team.
Last week, South Sudan Football Association appointed Shilen Booysen as the new head coach for the senior women’s national team.
Booysen, a South African national who holds CAF A License, was recently the performance analyst for South Africa’s women’s team at the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Champion.
South Sudan was left with no sport infrastructural development by the then Sudan regime, according to reports.
After independence, the country’s elected football leaders failed to invest in the sports sector.
However, in March last year, South Sudan embarked on the renovation of the only national stadium in order to suit the international standards as recommended by FIFA.
But in October that year, the sports authorities indefinitely suspended the construction of five $5 million Juba stadium projects after a section of the ongoing work collapsed.
After thorough investigations, the ban on renovation projects under Girma Shiferaw (G.S) Construction, an Ethiopian Construction Company was lifted by FIFA and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Link to article: https://allafrica.com/stories/202102230134.html
