"It's impossible to separate sports from politics, and the current situation in Syria isn't encouraging at any level, let alone in sports."
The speaker is Maha Janoud, a former player and current Syrian football coach. While Janoud's name might not ring familiar to global football fans, she is a true pioneer who made significant history in Syria and the Middle East.
Working with Omani girls to create better future for Middle Eastern women, through football. Janoud in Oman (Photo courtesy: Omani Football Association)
At the start of the millennium, Janoud was part of the Syrian national team as a player and shared in the Syrian women's peak achievement when they finished third in the West Asian Championship in 2005. During her playing career, Janoud completed coaching courses, and after retirement, she began coaching.
In 2018, she gained global attention when she made history by becoming the first woman ever in the Middle East to coach a men's football team, joining the coaching staff of Al-Muhafaza club, then in Syria's top league. "It was one of my greatest achievements," Janoud tells BabaGol in a special interview. "Al-Muhafaza club supported me tremendously, and despite considerable criticism and questions from the outside, the club remained very positive. It was a wonderful experience."
Janoud became a symbol. During that period, Assad's Syria made international headlines through football when the men's national team unexpectedly qualified for the Asian World Cup qualifying playoffs. Janoud's story, which served as an international example of the supposed women's empowerment in Syria at the time, also made waves.
But not all that glitters is gold. "There was massive corruption then. All sports facilities were essentially private farms for the personal benefit of those close [to the regime]."
Today, about a month since the fall of the dictator who, along with his father, ruled Syria for about 53 years, Janoud reveals the less attractive aspects of Syrian football under Assad. "Athletes were merely tools, victims of the greed and exploitation of those beneficiaries. Personally, I, who was marketed to the world as a 'Syrian success story,' was the biggest victim during that period," she confesses.
Middle Eastern history. Janoud (third on the right), on Al-Muhafaza’s bench for a league match. (Photo courtesy: screenshot)
After the period at Al-Muhafaza, which was relegated to the second division in 2019, Janoud left Syria. The social challenges, political instability, and the realization that some had used her status as a woman to glorify Assad's regime globally pushed her out of the country.
Nevertheless, she continued her journey in Middle Eastern football, becoming one of the region's most influential and powerful figures. She was part of FIFA's women's football development project and served four years on the Asian Football Confederation's Women's Football Council. Additionally, she worked as head of women's football at the Oman Football Association, where she established infrastructure and programs for developing female football talent in a way that opened doors for thousands of new female athletes, coaches, and referees from the region.
Janoud's achievements and influence became renowned in Asian football, gaining recognition worldwide. Her latest role was as a coach at the academy of Iceland's leading club, Breiðablik.
Despite her personal achievements and the great winds of change following the fall of Assad's regime, Janoud isn't optimistic about the situation in Syria. "If the new government doesn't hold people accountable for that period, we won't gain anything. Everyone who held a position of power in Syria should be questioned about the source of their wealth. State funds must return to the state, and the many athletes, who were merely tools, deserve justice. It was so ugly and revolting that I don't even like to remember it."
In the past month, Syria has transformed. The transitional government led by Ahmed al-Shar’a, al-Julani, speaks "Western" while relying on a fundamentalist Islamic base. How will this affect Syrian sports and football? How will it impact Syria and society, including unique figures like Janoud? "Nothing is clear yet about the new era. We'll need time to understand their (the new regime's) way of thinking and what strategy they'll present," she says. However, Janoud isn't optimistic in the immediate term.
"I doubt there will be a clear declaration [from the transitional government] amid all this chaos. All we have left is to live in hope that the future will be better."
Ivory Coast edged Nigeria 3-2 in the final of a solidarity tournament among eight African teams, organised by Sudanese refugees in Tel Aviv.