Faten Abi Faraj, football boss

Faten Abi Faraj, Head of Media & Communication at the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) and a sports journalist at MBC, a major Arabic-language media outlet, has become the face of Lebanese football. Most people admire her rapid rise to the top, but some can't hide their jealousy. Profile by Emmanuel de Solère Stintzy.

"When I was young I supported Safa SC, a club from Beirut. My mother told me I should become a journalist so I could appear on TV," she recalls clearly amused by the memory. Although Faten Abi Faraj was just 14 years old at the time, her mother was able to accurately predict her remarkable career path, which started when she was still young. Following a rapid rise to the top of the football world, Faten Abi Faraj became Head of Media & Communication at the Lebanese Football Association in 2020.

Faten is incredibly intelligent. She obtained a degree in TV and Radio, followed by an Msc in Media from the Lebanese University and is currently working on her PhD. She also didn't choose the easy route when it came to journalism: "I thought I could excel in sport, a field that I love and in which women are underrepresented in Lebanon, unlike politics." Her first professional experience in 2011 cemented this decision: "As a producer, I coordinated reports from correspondents representing various TV channels, but politics gave me a headache, there are too many parties and divisions. Sport unites people from all countries and all religions!"

"The people of Lebanon love women's football!"

From 2015 to 2017, Faten made her debut as a sports journalist working for Mostadira, a new media outlet which produces online content and a print magazine. She specialised in women's football and went on to volunteer in the Media department of the Lebanese Football Association: "I wanted our media outlets to highlight female players. Nowadays, female players are interviewed directly or featured in special programmes." Rami Abou Diab, founder and manager of FA Lebanon, an online media outlet, concurs: "Football is a popular sport, and the women's division is gaining popularity. The people of Lebanon love it! MBC now broadcasts women's international football matches, which sometimes rack up more views on social media than the men's matches. Faten contributed to bringing women's football into mainstream media."

Faten Abi Faraj was appointed Head of Media at the West Asian Football Federation in 2018, and took on the additional roles of Head of Local Media at the Asian Football Confederation and sports journalist for MBC1, a major Arabic-speaking media outlet, just one year later. She then worked for the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. Her reports are just as likely to focus on celebrities such as FIFA President Gianni Infantino as they are a player on the national team who has to repair air-conditioning units to make a living, or even Lebanese Paralympic champion Arz Zahreddine. "The audience appreciated his courage in overcoming obstacles to make his dreams come true. The Paralympic disciplines are just as important as the others! I like showing what happens behind the scenes and focusing on aspects that are unusual in sport," explains Faten, who is visibly thrilled to be joining CFI to cover the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"The quality of my work speaks for itself"

Faten Abi Faraj has been Head of Media & Communication at the LFA, which oversees all players, since 2020. Jihad El Chohof, Secretary General of the LFA, considers this a well-deserved promotion: "Faten is an excellent journalist who is very professional and proactive." However, her rapid rise to the top also attracted hateful and sexist comments. "Sometimes, instead of attacking the LFA, some journalists target its female face and judge Faten for who she is, rather than what she does," explains her friend Rami regretfully. He continues playfully: "I like to call her the boss because she has her own office on the 6th floor while the others share the open-plan office!"  Faten says she doesn't "demean herself" by fighting controversy on social media: "I prefer to let the quality of my work do the talking". Full of determination, Faten Abi Faraj also knows how to work in a team and embodies the Lebanese proverb: "One hand cannot clap." 

In ten years… 

What will Faten Abi Faraj's career look like in ten years? Her friend Rami Abou Diab can foresee two potential paths: "I can see her staying in Lebanon, obtaining her PhD and teaching at the university or taking on an administrative decision-making role within a government department. Or she could emigrate to Saudi Arabia where women's football is currently receiving a great deal of investment and work as a presenter for a media outlet there." Jihad El Chohof is just as optimistic, but less specific: "In ten years, I think that Faten Abi Faraj will be one of the great media personalities of the sporting world. She has the ambition and gives her all." 

Faten starts by confirming Rami's first prediction: "I would like to become a Doctor of Mass Media Communication at the university and run a new master's course on sports journalism. Why not also become the Minister of Sports and support all Lebanese athletes?"  However, Faten Abi Faraj cannot see herself giving in to the temptation of Saudi Arabia just yet: "It's true, women's football is currently receiving a great deal of support from the government and Saudi Arabia is a wealthy country, unlike Lebanon, which has experienced wars and economic crises. Nevertheless, I want to transform all Lebanese sport, no matter how long it takes." Determined to progress step-by-step, Faten explains that she signed up for a marathon, not a sprint. 

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Faten Abi Faraj at the International Agora for Journalism in Tours © CFI