Sudan's first female football stars push for women's rights Within months of Sudan's first women's football league kicking off, the championship's emerging stars are being hailed as icons for equal rights in a country transitioning to civilian rule. Women's football faced an uphill battle after the country adopted the Islamic sharia law in 1983, six years before then-brigadier Omar al-Bashir seized power in an Islamist-backed coup. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES