The national federation was created in 1956 and became a FIFA affiliate in 1956. However women's football is not included in the country's FIFA coordinated Goals! project. By 2011, inside the Saudi Arabia Football Federation, there has been an effort to create women's football programs at universities. Input had been sought on how to do this from other national federations including ones from the United States, Germany, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
In February 20th 2022 the Saudi women team played and won their first ever match against Seychelles 2-0.
History
Founded in 2006, King's United women football club was the first women's football club in Saudi Arabia. In 2009, they trained in Jeddah. The team was initially sponsored by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal but facing scrutiny in the face of intense media coverage, he withdrew his support in 2009. In 2012, the team trained three times a week outside the sight of men, with players wearing traditional football kit of short sleeved shirts and shorts. The team is coached by Reema Abdullah who also is the team's striker. It has 35 players who range in age from 13 to 35. Other women's teams have been created in the country in cities like Riyadh and Dammam and a tournament was held in 2008, with seven teams competing and the event being won by King's United. The first match between two female teams in the country occurred in January 2008 when the Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University team beat Al-Yamamah College in a match played at Dammam's 35,000-spectator capacity Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in a shootout victory before an all-women audience. The player of the match was Al-Yamamah College's goalkeeper. In March 2009, a women's charity football match was held between a team called "University" and a team called "Barcelona" that was attended by 400 female fans and no men. The game was won 2–1 by University and earned SR81,000 ($21,598) to go towards people with disabilities in the eastern part of the kingdom.
, no data was available for the number of women's football players in the country. In 2006, there was international uproar when Saudi authorities sought to prevent women from attending a game between the Saudi Arabia national football team and the Sweden national football team. In 2008, the situation for women's football in the Middle East was said by author Gary Brecher to be up there in popularity of freedom and democracy in the region. An all-women's school sporting competition was held at Effat University in 2010. The tournament was investigated by Saudi authorities because, according to Ahmed al-Zahrani, director of the Girls Education Department in Jeddah, the country does not have "any regulations that say that it's okay for girl schools to hold sports classes or training". In 2011, women's football was seen as a way to combat a growing problem of obesity in the country.
Football is the most popular sport for Saudi women. However, there is no official football academies, clubs or school leagues. The Saudi women succeeded in creating more than 10 recreational teams across the country, most of the teams are based in the big cities: Riyadh, Jeddah and Khobar.
In December 2020, the Saudi Sports for All Federation launched the first nation-wide football league in three major cities: Dammam, Riyadh, and Jeddah. The champions of each city were Jeddah Eagles, Eastern Flames FC, and Challenge FC.
National team and football league
The Saudi Arabia women's national football team represents the kingdom in international football. However, the team could not exist for long time because of influence of religious leaders in Saudi Arabia,women's sport, and active opposition of political leaders and sport administrators. International pressure has come to bear on the country to field a women's team, and FIFA now allows the hijab to be worn in competition. A meeting at the College of Business Administration in Jeddah was seen as a possible first step in a team eventually being created.
In 2008, due to the influence of conservative religious leaders in the country, the creation of a FIFA recognised women's national team was banned by law.