Exploring the football fanatic culture of the Middle East

New photo book ‘Football كرة القدم’ draws together pictures from over a dozen photographers to explore the region’s vibrant football culture.

Dur­ing the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Romaisa Bad­dar, along with mil­lions of oth­ers of Arab descent, was swept up in a wave of eupho­ria. Host­ed in Qatar, it was the first time the major glob­al sport­ing tour­na­ment had come to the Mid­dle East, and in a great under­dog sport­ing sto­ry, Moroc­co defied all the odds and made a run to the final four teams in the tour­na­ment, killing goliaths includ­ing 2018 tour­na­ment win­ners France along the way.

In the process, they had become the first Arab team and first African team to reach the semi-finals of the tour­na­ment. For us as Arabs, and even for non-Arabs, it was such a shock to expe­ri­ence an Arab team play like that, and come so far,” Bad­dar recalls. It sparked so much dur­ing and after the World Cup, every­one was real­ly involved and it was great to see how hap­py all the non-Moroc­can Arab coun­tries were. It made me realise how much of a uni­ver­sal lan­guage foot­ball is.

Bad­dar is the founder and cura­tor of Mid­dle East Archive – a project that aims to reframe under­stand­ings and con­cep­tions of the Mid­dle East through pho­tog­ra­phy. Morocco’s his­toric run sparked the idea for its lat­est pho­to­book, Foot­ball كرة القدم. The book draws togeth­er the pic­tures of over a dozen pho­tog­ra­phers from the late 1980s until the present day, from coun­tries includ­ing Moroc­co, Alge­ria, Turkey, Egypt, Oman, Syr­ia, Iraq, Yemen, Sau­di Ara­bia, Pales­tine and more, to explore the MENA region’s vibrant foot­ball culture.

The pic­tures – tak­en by the likes of Rachid Ouet­tas­si, Karim Sehib, Jinane Ennas­ri, Alex Webb and Salah Malka­wi – are full of joy and engag­ing warmth, from women wear­ing hijabs hav­ing a kick­about, and chil­dren chas­ing a ball down a nar­row street, to fans cheer­ing on their favourite teams while watch­ing a match on a tele­vi­sion box from decades past. It’s a sur­vey of foot­ball cul­ture for ordi­nary folk and show­cas­es just how inte­gral it is to dai­ly life in the Arab world.

Football’s super impor­tant. I feel like every street you go to, every cor­ner, if you hear peo­ple scream then you know football’s being watched some­where,” Bad­dar says. Peo­ple are so pas­sion­ate about it, they are will­ing to throw par­ties, or make fights, because it runs deep – this goes for the nation­al team, the city league, or [glob­al clubs]. I’m half Moroc­can so when I go to Moroc­co I see all these kids wear­ing like Barcelona, Real Madrid shirts. It’s almost a religion.”

When research­ing the project, she found that foot­ball was ever present with­in pho­tog­ra­phy from the Mid­dle East, sim­ply because of how vis­i­ble and loved the game is in the region. It was inter­est­ing for me, because every street pho­tog­ra­ph­er [that I looked at], none of them went to Pales­tine or Iraq to pho­to­graph foot­ball – it’s always like the Beirut Civ­il War, or Pales­tine struck by war,” she explains. But it was always there, it was nev­er miss­ing in these projects. And that was cool because I felt it proved that it was such a big thing.”

The project helps to paint a rounder pic­ture of life in the Mid­dle East, which is often left out of the TV reports and news­pa­per cut­tings that make their way across shores. I think what a project like this book does is human­ise peo­ple,” she says. They’re very demonised in the media, like we only talk about the region in the num­bers of deaths, the amount of casu­al­ties, and the tragedies that hap­pen. You rarely hear good things in the news.

So to come back to books like Foot­ball كرة القدم, it shows them in a light where they’re liv­ing in the same way as me day-to-day, like I have hob­bies, so I think that can play a role in fight­ing the Islama­pho­bia exist­ing now.”

Foot­ball كرة القدم is pub­lished by Mid­dle East Archive.

As the Euros kicks off, check out Huck foot­ball con­tent here.

Enjoyed this arti­cle? Like Huck on Face­book or fol­low us on Twit­ter.

Sup­port sto­ries like this by becom­ing a mem­ber of Club Huck.

You might like

Rustic footbridge across a river, with people crossing it on a sunny day. Warm tones and shadows suggest an outdoor, natural setting.
Sport

In Medellín’s alleys and side streets, football’s founding spirit shines

Street Spirit — Granted two weeks of unfettered access, photographer Tom Ringsby captures the warmth and DIY essence of the Colombian city’s grassroots street football scene.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Cello player and bearded man seated with text 'Spaces Between the Beats' in the background.
Music

After Assad’s fall, Syria’s musicians rebuild from the rubble

Spaces Between the Beats — Following decades of dictatorship and 14 years of civil war, the country’s classical and creative scenes have an opportunity to build from scratch. Andrei Popviciu speaks to the people hoping for a flourishing new era of art and sound.

Written by: Andrei Popoviciu

An older man standing in a room with ornate curtain and rug.
Tabriz, Iran. 2012 © Miriam Stanke
Culture

The intricate, intimate interiors of Middle Eastern homes

Living Rooms — Drawn from photographs made over the span of three decades, Middle East Archive has compiled a photobook that explores the insides of homes across the region, spotlighting its family intimacy and hospitality.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A young woman in a white blouse and shorts standing on a beach with a sign that says "What made me" in large text.
Music

BODUR: “I’ve always spoken out rather than assimilating”

What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s SWANA-championing pop experimentalist BODUR.

Written by: BODUR

Sport

Is the UK ready for a Kabaddi boom?

Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi — Watched by over 280 million in India, the breathless contact sport has repeatedly tried to grip British viewers. Ahead of the Kabaddi World Cup being held in Wolverhampton this month, Kyle MacNeill speaks to the gamechangers laying the groundwork for a grassroots scene.

Written by: Kyle MacNeill

Film

God Went Surfing

With The Devil — A new documentary film looks beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to capture a story of life and surfing in the Middle East.

Written by: Andrea Kurland

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.