Sitting beside the football field, Armelle Sylva pulls thick sport socks over her feet and painted toenails before putting on football boots.
She then carefully removes the veil that has been covering her hair and folds it into a backpack.
The women of the FC Mamans football team have gathered for practice at the municipal stadium of the Comoran capital Moroni, braving a fierce tropical storm battering the city.
Under the watchful eye of their coach, Stephane Aboutoihi, the team practises passing and ball control, and plays team-building games.
“Right foot, left foot, master the technique… come on, girls. Let’s do this!” he says.
Sylva pauses for breath, hands on her hips and rainwater dripping off her long hair, and breaks into a smile.
“It’s a passion I’ve had since I was small,” says the 23-year-old striker.
“When we play we’re like a family — more important than your home village or religion, we enjoy ourselves. We’re fortunate.”
But Sylva had to fight hard to be able to join the “family” in Comoros, a Muslim-majority country where most women would only go outside veiled and those wearing shorts are frowned upon.
“They told me: ‘You’re a girl, you’re not here to play football, you’re here to play with your children at home’,” she says.
“But I insisted, (though) it got me in trouble with my family and my uncles.”
Hairiat Abdourahmane, 24, has also had to overcome her family’s concerns and the religious taboos around women in sport to eventually don the green jersey of the national team.
