In December of 2020, the U20 Women’s Egyptian National Football Team won a match against their Lebanese counterparts. Though at first glance this should be a piece of good news at the end of a difficult year, the torrent of sexist online comments by viewers directed at the young athletes in the aftermath of the match made it anything but. Mere days later, rumours began to surface that the Under 20 (U20) football team would be completely disbanded. These two pieces of news sparked outrage from the team’s supporters and well-wishers, and social media platforms were flooded with messages of support and rejection of the possibility of the team’s disbanding. The members of the team itself appeared in a video shared on social media appealing to the Egyptian Football Association not to disband their team, adding that they had hoped for more support after the online bullying they faced after the Lebanon match. The day immediately following the release of this video it was confirmed that the team would, in fact, not be disbanded, and that a Under 17 (U17) Team would be added to the already existing U20 and…
