Since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011, around 500, 000 people have died and, as the United Nations reported in 2024, 14 million have been displaced, with nearly half of them heading elsewhere.
Among them is Syria’s second female soccer coach, Maha Janoud, who is already at the college of Breidablik, one of Iceland’s leading venues. Like many of her compatriots, she was glad to see the plan of lifelong bodybuilder Bashar Assad drop in December— even if the government’s future remains ambiguous.
” It is deeply unpleasant — my household haven’t been together for 12 times”, Janoud told DW.
” I’m hopeful that our countries will allow refugees to travel to Syria quickly and that we can reunite.” Every Arab has the right to go house, see what’s left over, or see the remnants of their past.
A life’s love
For Janoud, those recollections of existence in her country are numerous. At the turn of the century, the then-teenager was just starting out as a person. While she did have some success playing for her country, like a third-place finish at the 2005 West Asian Championship, she says this was despite, not because of, the Syrian Football Association ( SFA ).
” There was no significant help or even a club”, she said. Only a select few people had a passion for sports, according to the statement. Without any financial assistance from the union, developing a football strategy or league, or using us to compete in international competitions.
This was a first glimpse of what would turn out to be a difficult marriage with the SFA for Janoud, who took training classes while his playing career ended in 2011 at the age of 20. She claimed that the Assad regime, which had a stronghold in the organization, was in charge of keeping it under the control of dedicated officials.
Becoming a manager
The Asian Football Confederation ( AFC) mandated in 2018 that all member organizations establish technical agencies for women’s basketball. Janoud was hired as a manager despite being the only person in Syria with the necessary knowledge and license to teach, which the SFA claimed made it impossible.
She said,” They would force me to sign the contract that the AFC gave me even though I had not received it.”
She claimed that the government used her for advertising as a symbol of the independence of women in the country while working as an assistant coach for Damascus men’s membership Al-Muhafaza.
As the first female trainer in the Middle East to lead a men’s team, I was touted as the first woman to do so in the Middle East, but I never received a thank you from the Syrian government or any social or monetary support, she claimed.
When DW reached out to the league for opinion, DW received no response from the SFA. Yet, in what appeared to be a walk to distance itself from the previous government, it immediately changed its logo and top colors following Assad’s exit, while releasing a statement hailing a move away from “nepotism, favoritism and corruption”.
Watching from abroad
By 2020, Janoud had had enough, so she left Syria to operate for the AFC’s Women’s Council and with Oman’s children’s staff before heading to Iceland in 2023.
That, the now-39-year-old has been watching situations unfold at home. Ahmad Al-Sharaa, a Syrian opposition military commander, was named the country’s intermediate leader on January 29 and attempts to form a government of national cohesion are continuing.
” Syria is then going through the labor symptoms of a new baby, and this suffering is necessary”, Janoud said.
” I hope the new’ youngster’ will be good. My delight at the end of the dictatorship that weighed on our heads is inexplicable, but I hope we don’t walk from one blaze to another”.
Millions of people in a nation that has been at war for more than 13 times worry about that.
” I’m still waiting to see the vision for governing the country, and the new law because these are the foundations upon which Syria’s and its people’s future may be built”, she said.
Whatever happens in the future, according to Janoud, there must be a price to pay for those who served in the ancient regime’s framework.
” The entire people worked within Assad’s organizations, but I am specifically referring to the dishonest people who thrived on the body of saints, the breath of farmers and workers, and through the smuggling of women’s body and human organs. They must be held accountable”.
Furthering the women’s game
The men’s national team remained competitive in Asia despite the war, advancing to the 2018 World Cup in style. There is now hope that the men can become a real force if the situation settles down over the coming months and years.
The future of women’s football, however, is less clear. In interviews, al-Sharaa has said that women’s education will continue and has dismissed concerns that Syria will go the way of Afghanistan’s Taliban where women are, among other things, not permitted to participate in sports.
Janoud is withholding judgment.
” If the new system of government and constitution allow women to participate, it could completely alter the country’s trajectory. If women’s sports are permitted to continue with a limited budget, we must wait to see. Nothing happens through dreams alone, reality will determine this”, she said.
As the nation’s most successful female football player, Janoud could have a significant role to play as the game progresses.
” If Syria becomes safe, is governed by a fair constitution free from racism and discrimination, and guarantees a dignified life for its citizens, I must return”.
