Missing a connecting flight is one of the biggest nightmares for most travelers. For veteran sports journalist, Shireen Ahmed, what should have been an unpleasant experience turned into a touch of Women’s World Cup magic.
PHOTO: SHIREEN AHMED
The Senior Contributor at CBC Sports was on her way to Melbourne, Australia to cover the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
After already travelling to San Francisco from her native Toronto, Canada, Shireen failed to make her connecting flight that would have taken her straight to Melbourne.
With no direct flights left, she was rerouted to Singapore.
Shireen’s daughter, Rumaysa Khan is a goalkeeper for Pakistan’s Women’s National Team. In a stroke of luck, Singapore was hosting Pakistan at Jalan Besar Stadium that very same day.
Prior to their reunion at the stadium, the two had not seen each other in two months.
“There was a joke in the family WhatsApp. Everyone was like ‘you have to go,’ but realistically, everyone was just teasing me. Nobody, including her thought that I would be there,” Shireen says.
Having worries about potentially missing yet another flight, Shireen consulted her two cousins who live in Singapore about the possibility of making it out of immigration, to the match and back in five hours.
After getting reassurance of a quick and smooth process at Changi Airport, Shireen decided it was worth a shot.
PHOTO: SHIREEN AHMED
“I wasn’t aware what time her match was. Then when I found out that it was at 7pm and I land at 6.30pm, I was like, ‘I think this can happen.’” she smiles.
“Staying over in San Francisco was fortuitous because it helped give me time to map out my strategy for Singapore. I didn’t need a visa to enter, I just needed to pay $35 USD and I was joking that it felt like a ticket to Disney World, you can just get a pass for a day.”
By the time Shireen bought her $11 match ticket, which is now back in her Toronto home as keepsake, the game was already 12 minutes into the first half.
She picked her seat amongst the Pakistani fans behind the team’s bench and watched as they took on the Lionesses.
35 minutes in, a particular on-the-ball movement by Pakistan had captivated her in the stands. “Keep at it!” Shireen yelled in what she described as her spectator voice.
“All of a sudden, my daughter’s head jerked up and she turned around and I just did this,” she says as she demonstrates a cheeky, muted wave.
“She started to cry. I hadn't seen her in 2 months, which is the longest I hadn’t seen my child. The word I used to describe this was ‘serendipitous’. My son said it best, he said ‘Mama, if you even tried to do this, it wouldn’t have worked.’”
PHOTO: SHIREEN AHMED
Shireen’s missed connection was not the only blessing in disguise. The Pakistan Women’s National Team was never supposed to be in Singapore.
Instead of Southeast Asia, the team was scheduled to face Mauritius in Southeast Africa.
“Subhanallah, it was really interesting. The point that I made is that God is a better travel planner. The fact that this happened was something really spectacular. It sounds like something out of a movie,” she gushes.
After the 1-0 loss for Pakistan, the mother-daughter duo met at the team hotel, where the two spent 30-45 minutes catching up.
“To be honest, we didn’t talk a lot about the match. We talked a lot about each other. We really had to pack in a lot in that little time that we had,” Shireen recounts.
Despite the loss, Rumaysa took some positives away from the game.
“Later, she said that she was pleased the challenge is there. If you go through all the teams and win everything then something is wrong. A one-nil win signifies a certain amount of equilibrium and that means that all these teams are moving forward," Shireen shares.
PHOTO: SHIREEN AHMED
Shireen is no stranger to the global realm of women’s sports.
Having contributed to countless of established platforms like The Guardian, Sports Illustrated and currently CBC Sports, the award-winning sports activist and journalist has witnessed the evolution of women’s football in all parts of the world with differing socio-economical and political environments.
Sitting in Jalan Besar Stadium, she had hoped that there would be more Singaporean fans considering the home advantage, but understood better than anyone that it takes time.
Shireen believes strongly in the emboldening of youth teams and pathways as a way of growing the sport and feeding the national teams.
With several U-16 Singaporean players already in America and Spain under the Unleash The Roar! football scholarships and the growth of prolific goal scorers like Izzati Rosni and Borussia Dortmund youngster, Danelle Tan, there is already a slight buzz within the women’s football community in Singapore.
IRSALINA IRWAN, UNLEASH THE ROAR! FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT VS HONG KONG
PHOTO: FAIZAL BASIR, SPORTPLUS.SG
“There is a starting point and it keeps growing. I think looking at the example of the Australian Women’s National Team, there were less than 2000 people at games about a decade ago and now they’re spending $80,000 on stadiums so that’s really important to note. One day when I come to Jalan Besar, maybe there won’t even be a ticket for me!” Shireen says, full of hope.
“The environment in the stadium was one I really enjoyed because there was excitement and that is something that I think there's a vibe globally with the growth of women’s soccer. It’s long overdue, particularly in countries in Asia.”
On the back of a successful ongoing Women’s World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is due to announce an inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League. While the Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) is still very much in its developmental stages, it is historical that teams will even have the chance to fight to compete in such a tournament.
Taking the example of a Pakistan team that was suspended from 2014-2022, being able to now have tournaments to potentially play in is already a chance to grow.
“With the global growth of women’s football, it will trickle down into these parts of the world. You’ll always get the naysayers who say no. To try weed out the negative comments is really tough for the players because they read it. Players at every level read the comments but hopefully, you’ll get more people saying yes louder.”