British Army win friendly against UAE women

Team’s Dubai visit part of efforts to celebrate friendly GCC ties and promote women’s sport

The British Army women’s football team beat the UAE national team 4-0 in a friendly at the UAE Football Association (UAE FA) headquarters in Al Khawaneej on Friday.

The British Army team are in the UAE as part of a regional tour to celebrate the links between the UK and the GCC and to support work in the region to encourage more women to participate in sport. This was the team’s fourth match of the tour against national opposition.

Upon arrival, the team were hosted by the Women’s Sports Committee in Dubai and primed on the Committee’s work to get more women involved in sport.

On Friday, they were also given a tour of the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood in Bur Dubai and held a training session for children at the British Embassy in Dubai.

The team will also run training sessions for the UAE’s junior female national teams, local schools and football academies, finishing with a joint training session with the UAE ladies team in Abu Dhabi.

British Ambassador to the UAE, Philip Parham said: “The British Army team are excellent role models for young people across the world. We’re delighted we could bring them to the UAE, home to so many inspiring and impressive women.

“The UAE can be proud of their young and talented team which looks to have a very bright future in front of them. We are grateful to the UAE Football Association for making the team’s visit such a success.”

Colonel Alison Curnow, chairman of the Army team said: “It was an honour to play against the UAE national team. They played exceptionally well, displaying real strength, commitment and skill. I am very proud of the Army Women’s Football Team who have hopefully helped inspire women across the Gulf and beyond to play the beautiful game.”