Hiba Al-Qwaidi makes history as Saudi Women’s Premier League’s first female referee.
Hiba Al-Owaidi has become the first Saudi female referee to take charge of a Women’s Premier League match, after she officiated Al-Qadsiah’s 1-0 win against Al-Riyadh on Friday.
In a historical first for Saudi women’s football, Al-Qwaidi took charge of the match as field referee after she was internationally accredited by the games’s governing body FIFA.
The clash the Al-Qadsiah’s stadium in Al-Khobar saw Abdullah Al-Madad and Khaled Al-Anezi take part as assistant referees.
Al-Qwaidi’s first appearance after receiving her accreditation was as the fourth referee in the Riyadh Season Cup tournament, specifically the match that that’s aw Saudi’s Al-Hilal beat Inter Miami of the US 4-3 at Kingdom Arena.
Al-Qwaidi, a graduate of College of Sports Sciences at the University of Jeddah, is now among 22 Saudi referees accredited by FIFA, as announced by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation last December.
The referees include Mohammad Al-Hoaish, Faisal Al-Balawi, Sami Al-Garisi, Majed Al-Shamrani, Khaled Al-Taris, Abdullah Al-Shehri, and Shukri Al-Hanfosh.
