Rumaitha played football for Oman

Rumaitha was also a football player in the Oman Women’s National Football team before it was terminated in 2007.

But it only opened more opportunities when she and a small group of other players went on the air to lobby against the cancellation of the team. A producer, who happened to watch them, gave them the opportunity to talk about sports and analyse football matches on air. “In the beginning, we received negative reactions from people, even threats, and our families were pressurising us to quit,” said Al Busaidi.

“After a while, people got used to it. Today, I can go on air and talk about sports. Now people support me for it,” she added.

The award winning radiojournalist on Merge 104.8, an avid sports woman and the first female football analyst in the Arab World — she was on Abu Dhabi Sports and MBC’s Sada Al Malaeb — as well as being an active member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, she has made her message heard in the media, and it is loud and clear: a woman wearing a hijab can do what she sets her eyes on, no matter what challenges come her way.

“When you commit yourself to your vision, promise and put in your energy, it pays off even better than what one could imagine,” said Rumaitha.