Adwa al-Arifi

Adwa Abdulrahman al-Arifi is the first Saudi woman to work in the sports field when she became a member of the Social Responsibility Committee in the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in 2018. In the following year, she became a member of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. She also founded and chaired the first Saudi women's club and contributed to the establishment of the first Saudi women's national team.

Adwa al-Arifi holds a bachelor's degree in Financial Management from the College of Business at al-Yamamah University. She worked as a financial analyst in several companies and also served as the manager of investment funds in the Saudi Stock Market. In the field of sports, she obtained a diploma in Football Management from the Portuguese Football Federation and completed courses in refereeing from the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Adwa al-Arifi has held numerous positions, including the role of Assistant Minister of Sport for Sports Affairs. She previously served as the Deputy Minister of Sports for Strategic Planning and Investment. She has also held several international positions, including being a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Olympic Committee, a member of the Women's Committee in the Asian Football Confederation, and a member of the Asian Olympic Committee.

Adwa al-Arifi managed to make history as the first Saudi woman to join the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in 2019. The year before, she was a member of the Social Responsibility Committee of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. She is also the first Saudi woman to represent Saudi Arabia in conferences held by both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation. Adwa played a significant role in the development of community strategies and women’s sports within the Saudi Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sport, and the General Sports Authority. In 2007, she founded the first Saudi women’s football team, al-Yamamah team. The following year, she directly contributed to the establishment of the first women’s football league, the Riyadh City League. In 2019, she founded the first Saudi women's national football team, which participated in an international sporting event in Kuwait and won a bronze medal. She is also the first Saudi woman to receive an Olympic medal.

Adwa al-Arifi won the Sportswoman of the Year Award in 2020. She also received the Leaders Sports Award for Young Sports Leaders Under 40 in 2024, recognized globally.