[ti:Sudanese Women Chase Soccer Dream] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]All her life, Elham Balatone wanted to play soccer like her brothers. [00:09.20]However, in Sudan, where she lives, women could be arrested and beaten [00:16.00]for putting on soccer clothing in the strict Muslim country. [00:22.48]She played anyway. [00:25.64]"There's nothing in this world that I love more than soccer. [00:31.96]Please let me play," she said she told her family. [00:37.88]For years, she and other women played secretly. [00:42.36]Until now. [00:44.96]Recently, Sudan's sports minister watched the women play in a sports center [00:51.56]in the capital Khartoum where the country celebrated a new, official women's soccer league. [01:00.96]Even Balatone's family was happy about it. [01:06.28]The new league is about more than a game. [01:09.76]Sudan is trying to move away from 30 years of leadership that followed Shariah, [01:17.64]a strict understanding of Islamic law that limits what women can do. [01:25.72]Officials are making changes after the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. [01:36.08]In November, officials canceled a "public order" law that, activists say, [01:43.68]had been used to discriminate against women. [01:49.00]But not everyone is happy. [01:51.56]Some extreme religious conservatives are pushing back. [01:58.28]Preacher AbdulHay Yousif and others have said permitting women to play soccer [02:05.84]will "destroy religion and morals." [02:11.00]"What manhood would allow a Muslim woman to appear before men... [02:16.60]with her arms, legs...exposed and then run before them?" [02:22.80]Yousif asked religious followers in October just as the league began. [02:31.12]He also said Sudan's minister for sport and youth, a woman, [02:36.92]"doesn't believe in what we believe in. He called her "an apostate." [02:43.76]This has resulted in legal action between them. [02:49.40]Another pro-Shariah group called on preachers to "expose the government's secularization plots." [02:59.68]Critics argue that some conservatives are using the methods of the former president al-Bashir. [03:07.88]They say he criticized political enemies using religious language to control women and stop change. [03:17.88]Yousif's words have not affected the league. [03:21.68]But Taghreed Awoda, an official for one of the teams, [03:27.84]said the argument was a part of the greater fight for change. [03:33.72]Awoda said "to have a women's soccer league play in Sudan," destroys the world al-Bashir created. [03:44.20]Under al-Bashir, laws that controlled women and their clothing targeted the poor, [03:51.08]uneducated and political activists, Awoda said. [03:57.60]Women players were usually left alone if they played quietly [04:02.64]although one group of women was arrested for a short time. [04:09.32]"Now the moment has come when they can show people that women could play just like men," [04:16.00]said Amany Anas, a player for the al-Tahadi team. [04:23.76]The players said there is no conflict between their religion and soccer. [04:30.44]"I pray and I perform my Islamic duties. I see no problem," Anas said. [04:38.68]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM