With the countdown on to the FIFA World Cup 2034 in Saudi Arabia, it is perhaps little surprise that football is viewed as a central pillar of NEOM’s plans to help nurture a physically active society in the Kingdom – for women as well as men.  Few would have anticipated the transformational progress of women’s football in Saudi Arabia over recent years, and the influence it is having on the growth of women’s sport, which has long been at the forefront of NEOM’s strategic objectives.

Women only started attending football matches in Saudi Arabia in 2018. While women and girls have been playing for some years in private facilities, the first official community football game was played in Riyadh just five years ago. From that moment, momentum has been building, with some 77,000 girls playing football every week in the Kingdom, a significant growth of 46 per cent since 2022.

In March 2025, the NEOM Sports Club Women’s Football Team secured promotion to the Saudi Women’s Premier League, the top tier of women’s football in the Kingdom – an achievement that highlights the rapid growth of the sport across Saudi Arabia.

From a local perspective, NEOM Sports Club is at the heart of this shift. The club has made it a core focus to build out their women’s teams and create a clear pathway from the academy. There are now three women’s teams in the academy, with the club making no distinction between men and women when it comes to football development.

For NEOM Sports Club, it means the adoption of a longer-term strategy investing in local talent and building foundations for the future.

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