Dentist breaks ground for Egyptian women as pundit

Egyptian Manar Sarhan is a dentist. But when she is not filling teeth, the 27-year-old is preparing to appear on a weekly show on the private CBC television channel, to comment on matches. It’s a rare sight in a field monopolised by former football players, all of them men.

But for her, this is a story of love and passion.

“I chose dentistry as a career with my mind, but football is my passion and love…I tried to play football in the beginning but I didn’t find a good opportunity in Egypt and I think specialising in analysing football makes up a lot for it,” she says.

Sarhan’s journey in journalism began in 2002. She was then using a basic camera to capture videos for the website of her favourite Egyptian club: Zamalek.

From then, she has been picked up to write for various newspapers, websites and satellite sports programmes.

To break into sports commentary hasn’t been easy for her, owing to the deeply rooted gender-based stereotypes. But today she boasts a large online following, and her dream goes beyond the Egyptian borders…all the way to Spain where she hopes to work one day.