RIYADH — Areej Mutabagani has become the first chairperson of the board of directors of the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF). For the first time in the history of STF, the majority of the members of the board are women. Among the seven members of the new board, four are women, according to a report in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. Areej was elected the chairperson of the STF board on Monday. The members of the board are Badr Hisham Radhi, Sherifa Al-Sudairy, Fatima Batook, Lama Al-Suleiman, Hamad Al-Zamil, Wahdan Al-Qadi, and Tariq Bin Zaidan. It is noteworthy that the first phase of the elections to the sports federations was held and these included federations for swimming, karate, tennis, table tennis, and athletics. The polling was held remotely with the participation of representatives of members of general assemblies nominated to vote by the respective clubs. As for the second phase, five presidents will be elected for the federations of basketball, volleyball, handball, cycling and taekwondo. Areej comes from a family that loves tennis. Her husband Fahmi Saleh is the former tennis champion, who represented the Kingdom in many tournaments and their children are currently playing the game. Areej emphasized that during her presidency of the federation, she will try to develop the game by holding intensive training programs. "The presence of the female component in a leadership position in the sports field will greatly contribute to the entry of women to learn more about sports and practice more in the game," she added.
