Nermine Farouk was among the first women assistant referees in Arab football, Ghada Abdel-Kader reports They say football is a man's game but try telling that to Nermine Farouk who has brought the feminine touch to the sport, not as a player but a football assistant, among the first batch in the Arab world. Farouk, 43, assisted in the Egyptian Football Federation (EFF) women's league from 1999 to 2010. Not only was she an original at her job but she is veiled, and she's proud of it. "I am so proud to have been the first Egyptian Muslim veiled woman to assist a referee," Farouk told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I didn't face any problems with my veil. There is no difference between a man and a woman referee." Farouk never put a whistle to her lips. From the start of her field career, she was an assistant referee -- they used to be called linesmen, or should we say lineswomen -- who need hawk-eyes to spot offsides, infractions, and whether the ball had crossed the goal line. In 1999, she started her first match as an assistant. "An assistant has to be able to run, have good physical fitness," Farouk says. "She must have a strong personality, never hesitate, be intelligent and focussed on the match." Her journey with football began when she was in England with her husband Nasser Abou Seada, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery in the faculty of medicine at Ain Shams University. Although Farouk never played football she was immediately drawn to the sport and in particular adjudicating it when she started watching football matches in England. "My husband was too busy with his surgery. At half time he attended matches. Every Friday, he allowed me to practice refereeing." She admired women referees. "That's when my husband encouraged me to be like them." As such, they both visited the chairman of the Cairo referees committee, at that time Mahmoud Osman, who handed her a football rule book. She passed arbitration exams for women referees in physical fitness and the laws of the game. Only eight out of 25 women met similar success. Farouk's life has been one degree and diploma after the other. She received a diploma from the Higher Institute of Islamic Studies in 1995 after which her studies were strictly sports related. In 2000, she received a diploma in sports injuries from the Faculty of Physical Education for Boys in Helwan University. She received her master's degree in sports and physical education, specialising in sports physiology. For her thesis -- the biological characteristics of Egyptian women soccer players -- she studied the best players in Egypt's national women football league. Her hypothesis was that there are certain biological characteristics that determine why a woman chooses to play soccer. It was the first master's degree of its kind in physiology and morphology for women players. She received her doctorate in philosophy of physical education from Helwan in 2008. She was honored by the head of the National Sports Council Hassan Sakr with the Legion of Sport on what was aptly Egypt's first Sport's Day, in 2009. Farouk seeks to always be up to date in sports. She has participated in more the 50 scientific conferences, including one on diabetes management, endocrinology and obesity, and cardiothoracic surgery. Currently, she is a scientific lecturer in the EFF in most training camps held for international men and women referees. She was also a member of the Egyptian Futsal Federation, having manned the lines in the five-a-side national league's second and third divisions. Other highlights include participating in the semi-finals of the 2004 national cup for women. Farouk has four sons: Farouk, the eldest at 20, followed by Mahmoud, Mustafa and Youssef, aged seven, and a brown belt karate champion. All are studying in the US except for Youssef who lives with her in Cairo. "All my sons are my intimate friends. When they're away I miss them a lot. They supported and encouraged me," Farouk said. "They love playing football but they don't play much because studying is very difficult there and they don't have enough time. Over the weekends, they play football and go swimming with their friends and classmates." In 2010, Farouk decided it was time to hang up her flag. In 2010, she became an observer. Again, she is the first woman in Egypt to enter this field. Following her performance in arbitration, she received a license to monitor football matches "but until now I didn't observe any matches. "Still, I wish to distinguish myself." She already has. To stay fit, Farouk trains twice a week. She loves to do so while playing tennis. Farouk would like to be a spokeswoman for FIFA, world football's governing body. Until the time comes, she must do with having torn down the football barriers of gender.
