Marihan Yehia texts on the bus back from Qena. ‘We’re called professionals, but we’re not really. We can’t live off our wages, not like the male players. I will have to use my business degree at some point and choose that over a career in football
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Mervat Abd El-Galil, otherwise known as Kawarshy, with her two sisters-in-law and their children – family she supports from her footballing wage
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Spectators at female football matches are few and far between, as the general public are on the whole unaware of the existence of the three leagues. Here security guards at the Qena sports ground take a break from the heat to watch the match
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Wadi Degla and Qena meet at the start of their match. Women in conservative towns like Qena are not allowed to be as socially active, so the existence of teams there represents a significant change in societal structure as women become the main breadwinners for their family through an entirely non-traditional means
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The Wadi Degla team enjoy time out dancing the night before their away match against Qena. The girls are required to wear their strip at all times to stop boys from flirting with them
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Coaching staff and the team wait in the foyer of their five star hotel on the way to Qena. ‘It is my job to make sure the players are happy and stress-free,’ says coach Mohammed Gamal. As a large conglomerate with telecommunications, real estate and petrol interests, Wadi Degla players are seen as important publicity for the company as a whole
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Midfielder Nivien Gamal started wearing a headscarf when she started to play football, to show that Muslim women can and should play
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The Wadi Degla team arrive at a service station on the way to their Qena match
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Lunch is prepared for the national team at the training ground in 6 October City
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Omneya Mahmoud is Wadi Degla and Egypt’s youngest player. At 17 she is part of the new generation inspired by the revolution. She hopes democracy will encourage investment in Egyptian women’s football, enabling it to compete on an international level in the future
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Women’s football in Egypt started in 1993 when Dr Sahar El Hawary set up her own team. The daughter of a prominent Egyptian referee, she fought against conservative Egyptian values which dictated that women should not play. She said ‘I always dreamt of being a referee. I had patience and guts, and I accepted all sorts of sacrifices to do this
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The first generation of female coaches is now working with Egyptian teams.
Rachel Adams/ DNE
