History of Soccer in the UAE

 

 

History of Soccer in the UAE

Soccer (or football) holds the leading position in the UAE today. It becomes more and more popular every year, receiving a large number of followers among men and women. The UAE welcomes the multitude of visitors annually due to the soccer games. It happens several times a year and provides fans with pleasure to observe games of various local, regional and international teams. Luckily, both amateurs and professional players can benefit from some developed facilities delivered by public and private institutions. Nowadays, many programs promote soccer from the school level. Thus, players at the age groups of 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 get the chance to show their skills on the field. This particular status of soccer is a progress since this kind of sport is rather young in the UAE comparing to other countries. This work will try to track the origins of soccer in the UAE and its main development stages.

 

Historically, sporting activities in the UAE have always been falconry, the traditional boat racing, and horse and camel racing. Arabs learned about football from Europeans. In particular, British soldiers were the ones who started playing soccer with local teams on rough grounds. Arabs were quick learners. They adopted this new game with lightning speed. The other contributors to the rapidspread of soccer were the young Arabs who returned home from their studies abroad. Their promotion of the European soccer was so strong that the game spread all around the country. Though the game was rather disordered at the beginning, it became more regular and organized after the formation of football clubs in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Since then, soccer has gained more significance and greater popularity among the UAE population. The United Arab Emirates was established as a country in 1971. That same year the national Football Association (UAE FA‎) was established. The next year it affiliated to FIFA (Federation International de Football Association). In two years, the country joined the Asian Football Confederation and the Union of Arab Football. By the way, Sheikh Mubarak Bin Mohammad Al Nahyan became the first President of the Football Association of  the United Arab Emirates.

 

Since its appearance, the UAE National Team acquired many achievements. It became now a matter of national pride for the native and non-native population of the UAE. The first achievement was the attendance at the 2nd Gulf Cup of Nations (Khaleeji) held in Riyadh in 1972. It was the first major tournament for the team. In a few years, the UAE National Team won its first official competition team against Qatar. In 1980, the country entered the Asian Cup, and the next decade the UAE entered the World Cup in Italy. The UAE team was the Asian Cup runner-up in 1996, Champions of Gulf Cup in 2007 and Silver Medalists of the Asian Games in 2010. The UAE young generation also has a number of accomplishments. The national youth team qualified for the different FIFA World Cups in 1991, 1997, and 2003 accordingly.

 

In the course of time, several football events have established in the UAE on the annual basis. These include UAE Pro League, Etisalat Cup, President’s Cup, and UAE Super Cup. The UAE Pro League (UAE Football League) is the top football competition at the state level. It was established in 1973. Now, the most successful team to date is Al Ain FC. The capital of United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, is famous for its tournaments. These include Al Ain Football Tournament and Abu Dhabi Sports Council Football League. The Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) organizes these events. Other Abu Dhabi tournaments comprise the Abu Dhabi Amateur Football League, and the first official amateur football league in Abu Dhabi for men, women, corporates and juniors under 12 and 14 held at the Dome@Rawdhat. The latter is a football and sporting facility with indoor and outdoor trainings for all comers.  

           

Since 1982, the United Arab Emirates has often acted as host for international football events. It hosted the Gulf Cup in 1982, 1994 and 2007, and the AFC Asian Cup in 1996. The country successfully hosted the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 and in 2010. Besides, the UAE staged the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2003 and the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2009.

Modern Abu Dhabi and Emirates football clubs are Al Ain, Al Wahda, Al Jazira, Baniyas, and Al Dhafra. Al Ain set up in 1968. It is the nine-time champion of the UAE Pro League. Besides football, the club has expanded to basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, swimming and other sports. Al Jazira Club was founded in 1974. It took the champion’s awards in different tournaments in 2007 and 2011. Al Wahda Club founded in 1984. It won the UAE Pro League title in 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2010. Baniyas Club started in 1981 and became champions of President's Cup in 1992. Al Dhafra Club is the youngest UAE club. It was set up in 2000. Women’s football in Abu Dhabi was represented by a women’s football league of young girls.

 

To conclude, traditional sports remain popular with the newer ones in the UAE. Thus, falconry, horse and camel racing peacefully coexist with football. Country population is loyal to UAE football teams. More and more people want to join football teams to bring glory to their country. These people are both men and women. Therefore, there are good chances that football will remain one of the most popular UAE sports in the future.

 

 

 

References

United Arab Emirates-History &Background. (2013). Retrieved from www.StateUniversity.com.

Football in the UAE. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.abudhabi.ae/egov.