Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Adidas, the leading global company for sportswear and garments, announced that it has officially signed a contract with Saudi female footballer Farah Jefry to market its sports products. The 18-year-old player of the Jeddah Eagles Club is the first Saudi sportswoman who inked a contract with the German brand.

Jefry, who has more than 65,000 followers on her social media accounts, is playing in local and national women's football tournaments. Adidas Middle East and North Africa region (Adidasmena) posted on its Instagram a welcome picture of Jefry, saying “The future of sports is here, welcome to the Adidas family.”

Jefry is one of the first players with whom the German company signed a marketing sponsorship contract in the Gulf region.

“The company used to send me new shoes to try, after which they offered the contract in order to join their family. I am proud of being the first Saudi sportswoman to sign a contract with the sports company, and I hope this is just the beginning and more such opportunities will follow for my fellow female soccer players in the Kingdom,” Jefry said.

The player, who is popular as “Saudi De Bruyne”, noted that the contract with Adidas includes marketing all of the company’s sports products. “The focus will be more on the new versions of football shoes, as I am a player,” she added.

During the last season, Jefry won the top scorer award in the Champions Cup Saudi Women’s Football League. She expressed happiness over winning the top scorer title in the first edition of a Saudi women’s football tournament.

On her future ambitions, Jefry said: “I aspire to represent the Saudi national team and work to develop my skills and capabilities, in order to achieve the dream of foreign professionalism. I am happy with the development of women’s football in Saudi Arabia, and I aspire to do more with the hope that the spotlight will be more on female talents.”

According to the Adidasmena account, the sportswear giant is the brand sponsor of a number of professional players in the Saudi League, and they include Al-Nasr players — Argentinian Betty Martinez and Brazilian Petros; Hilal’s trio — the Peruvian Andre Carrillo, Argentinian Luciano Vito and French Baftembe Gomez, in addition to Al-Ahli Jeddah striker — Syrian Omar Al-Somah.

At the level of local Saudi players, the list includes Saud Abdul Hamid Dahir of Jeddah Ittihad, Abdul Fattah Asiri and Mukhtar Ali of Al-Nasr, Muhammad Al-Rubaie, and Al-Saed Yusef Al-Harbi of Jeddah Al-Ahli along with Ali Al-Nimr, the player of Taawun. It is noteworthy that Adidas sponsors many international football stars, including the Argentinian Lionel Messi and the Egyptian star Mohamed Salah.