Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup. Atletico lost to Barcelona 3-2 in the second semi-final on Thursday night at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Saudi Arabia.
The Spanish Super Cup is giving a lot of surprises this time. This year, four teams are taking part in a tournament held between the winners of two domestic tournaments. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will play Sunday in a match between Barcelona and Valencia, which is expected to be the final. But Madrid used to be a regular visitor this year. Before the season started with Super Kopa. And this time in the middle of the season is the Super Cup of the previous season. However, the biggest surprise is the game venue. Spain’s domestic Super Copa is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia!
Saudi Arabia wants to exploit the huge popularity of Barcelona and Real Madrid. That’s why they signed a three-year contract with the Spanish Football Federation. Three years the new edition of the Super Cup will be held at King Abdullah Stadium in Jeddah. In return, the Spanish Football Federation will receive 120 million euros! It is not possible for any federation of the earth to return such an alluring proposal. And this is why Spanish journalists have the opportunity to revisit Saudi Arabia. Though few supporters of Real or Barcelona came from Spain thinking of the country’s religious laws, the journalists, however, did not miss the chance to see a super-Copa on a new background.
One such person is Carmen Torres. Spanish magazine Marker sees this female sports journalist Saudi Arabia with a perfect tourist’s eye. Here is his column published in Marca on January 5 –
‘Saudi Arabia has changed a lot. You can’t even imagine For about a year a revolution has been happening here. Here you are, this is an example. And now women can study, work, … ‘Many people in Saudi Arabia have told me this. Only all of them are men; Women do not stop talking. They refused to speak. Only one marketer has agreed to take pictures with Marta Garcia and me on the video team. But it is true that the country is going through a process of modernization. Slow, quite slow, but there is no doubt that the path of modernization is on the way.
Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman is trying to give the country a taste of the western world. The young man who is studying in the United States is seeking to spread a free spirit in Saudi Arabia. This is the last year in which women have been given the right to drive. I saw thousands of cars in this country in my first 5 hours in Asia. There was only one woman in the driver’s seat. But I’ve seen at least one. They are going to university, though women and men take separate classes. Many have told me, ‘There is even a female doctor’, but I have found that many men refuse to seek their treatment. But they (the doctors) are there.
Now they (women) can keep the property in their name. However, they cannot vote. They don’t have this right or they don’t even know if they will ever get it. There are no plans for this at present. Many cannot go to the doctor alone or decide on what matters to them. Yesterday, I requested different women to take pictures, and everyone who had males wanted permission. And no one was allowed to take pictures. In the meantime a man asked permission from a boy who was not even 5 years old, he refused. The boy was definitely his brother. I’ve been told, ‘Men in the family will make decisions; He could be a father, husband or brother … ‘Even when girls go to the doctor, men go with them.
The Spanish Super Cup is going to Jeddah. This is the most open city in the country. There are a lot of foreigners here. There are people in Syria, Pakistan, and Jordan who are more open-minded. Occasionally you will see a woman dressed in western clothes, or someone’s face. The rest of the country is much more conservative than that. There are many places where the rules are too strict. In Jeddah, I have seen many restaurants, one row for men and another for women. So is the banks. They try to keep the two sexes as separate as possible. The less the communication, the less the temptation.
Marriage
Women in Saudi Arabia cannot choose their husbands – the family’s decision. He has nothing to say about it. Many men can have up to four wives, but they have to obey the rules. Suppose you don’t get permission to start another marriage and family if your wife is not pregnant. However, tourists are now allowed to stay in hotels with their partner, whether married or not. Earlier, the punishment for something like this was to be sent to jail. The country is seeking to make tourism a major sector of their economy.
Football
Women are now allowed to watch matches in the stadium alongside men. Many were in the gallery at the Real Madrid-Valencia match on Wednesday night. They had to settle in a certain part of the stadium a few months ago. , They were only allowed to sit in a separate section. The number of women sports journalists is quota zero.
Foreign
The hospitality I’ve been given so far is good. I try to follow the rules, but sometimes small mistakes are not avoided. For example, when touching a phone shop, I was touched by a shop employee. I found her discomfort and shame. I was so surprised that a driver on the road stopped me and wanted to take a picture. He asked me permission to take a picture of me stopping and bowing down. After I said yes, I went on my way with a smile and a smile. But that’s right, Saudi Arabia is on its way to being open. But it will take a long time.
