United Arab Emirates Football Association
| AFC | |
|---|---|
| Short name | UAEFA |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Headquarters | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates[1] |
| FIFA affiliation | 1974 |
| AFC affiliation | 1974[2] |
| WAFF affiliation | 2001 |
| UAFA affiliation | 1974 |
| AGCFF affiliation | 2016 |
| President | Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan |
| Vice-President | Abdullah Nasser Al Jneibi |
| General Secretary | Mohammed Hazzam Al Dhaheri |
| Website | www |
The United Arab Emirates Football Association (UAE FA; Arabic: الاتحاد الإماراتي لكرة القدم) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer and futsal in the United Arab Emirates.
Current association staff
| Name[3] | Position |
|---|---|
| Sheikh Hamdan AL NAHYAN | President |
| Abdullah AL JUNAIBI | Vice President • Commercial and Marketing Advisory Committee - Member |
| Obaid AL SHAMSI | Vice President |
| Mohammed AL DHAHERI | General Secretary • Youth Boys’ Competitions Committee - Member |
| Hesham ALZAROONI | Treasurer |
| Salim AL NAQBI | Media And Communications Manager |
| Jan VAN WINCKEL | Technical Director |
| Cosmin OLAROIU | National Coach Men |
| Vera PAUW | National Coach Women |
| Salem Ali AL SHAMSI | Chairperson of the Referees Committee |
| Lee PROBERT | Head/Director of the Referees Department |
| Mohamed ELASHMAWI | Referee Coordinator |
President
The following is a list of selected presidents of the United Arab Emirates Football Association including pre-UAEFA era.
| President | Term |
|---|---|
| Mubarak Al Nahyan | 1957–1961 |
| Ghanem Ghabbash | 1973–1974 |
| Mana' Al Maktoum | 1974–1976 |
| Sultan Al Nahyan | 1976–1981 |
| Hamdan Al Nahyan | 1984–1993 |
| Abdullah Al Nahyan | 1993–2001 |
| Saeed Al Nahyan | 2001–2002 |
| Yousuf Al Serkal | 2004–2008 |
| Muhammed Al Rumaithi | 2008–2011 |
| Yousuf Al Serkal | 2011–2016 |
| Marwan Ghalaita | 2016–2020 |
| Rashid Al Nuaimi | 2020–2023 |
| Hamdan bin Mubarak | 2023– |
Activity
At the level of developing the national cadres, the FA chose 2010 as the Year of the National Coach and signed various agreements with some national associations in the game for development and training including Germany, Spain, Czech, Italy and Egypt. The national coaches took over the youth and junior national teams and they were provided with financial support.
At the organizational level, the FA hosted the FIFA Club World Cups in 2009 and 2010, the 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and other friendly and official championships and supported the women football and launched the Futsal in collaboration with sports council within the country. The next step is to organize and host the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
In 2010, UAEFA partnered with the Mubadala Development Company to launch the UAEFA Grassroots Festivals, a state-wide campaign to recruit and train certain players.[4]
In July 2011, a 3-year sponsoring deal was signed with Panasonic.[5] In January 2016, UAEFA signed a partnership with the United States Sports Academy to provide UAEFA a football club operators licensing program.[6]
In December 2016, UAEFA renewed its partnership with the Japan Football Association.[7]
In February 2017, UAEFA warned 46 football players (including Asamoah Gyan) about their inappropriate hairstyles that did not conform to its guidelines.[8]
In October 2017, UAEFA requested that the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup be postponed while the issue with Qatar was being resolved.[9]
Management
League system
- Tier 1: UAE Pro League
- Tier 2: UAE First Division League
- Tier 3: UAE Second Division League
- Tier 4: UAE Third Division League
Domestic Cups
Defunct tournaments
- UAE Vice-presidents Cup
- UAE Federation Cup
Women's competition
National teams
- United Arab Emirates national football team
- United Arab Emirates national under-23 football team
- United Arab Emirates national under-20 football team
- United Arab Emirates national under-17 football team
- United Arab Emirates women's national football team
- United Arab Emirates national futsal team
- United Arab Emirates national beach soccer team
- United Arab Emirates veterans' national football team
Honours
- AFC Dream Asia Award: 2012
- AFC President’s Recognition Award for Grassroots Football – Gold Category: 2025
- AFC Grassroots Charter – Gold-level Member: 2024
- AFC League Development Programme Award: 2021
- AFC Golden Award for Medical Excellence: 2025
Men’s National Teams
Intercontinental
Continental
- AFC Asian Cup
- AFC U-20 Asian Cup
- AFC U-17 Asian Cup
- Runners-up: 1990
- Asian Games
- AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup
Regional
- FIFA Arab Cup
- Runners-up: 2009
- Third place: 2025
- Arabian Gulf Cup
- AGCFF U-17 Gulf Cup
- WAFF U-20 Championship
- Runners-up: 2019
- GCC Beach Games
- Runners-up: 2025
Other
- UAE International Cup
- Oman Cup
- Champions: 2000
- Kirin Cup
- Champions: 2000
- OSN Cup
- Champions: 2013
Women’s National Teams
Intercontinental
- Special Olympics
- Runners-up: 2022
Regional
Men’s Clubs
Intercontinental
- FIFA Club World Cup
- Runners-up: 2018
- African–Asian–Pacific Cup
- Runners-up: 2024
Continental
Regional
Other
- UAE–Qatar Super Cup Series
- Champions: 2024, 2025, 2025, 2025, 2025, 2026, 2026
- Runners-up: 2024, 2026, 2026
- Granada City Cup
- Champions: 2025
- UAE–Morocco Super Cup
- Champions: 2015, 2016
See also
References
- ^ FIFA.com. "Member Association – United Arab Emirates – FIFA.com". fifa.com. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
- ^ "AFC BARS ISRAEL FROM ALL ITS COMPETITIONS". The Straits Times. Reuters. 16 September 1974.
- ^ FIFA.com. "Member Association - United Arab Emirates". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
- ^ UAE Football Association and Mubadala Kick Off Grassroots Football Festivals, Mubadala.com, 17 April 2010
- ^ Panasonic links up with UAE Football Association, Soccerex.com, 26 July 2011
- ^ United Arab Emirates Partners with United States Sports Academy for Football Education Archived 2017-12-01 at the Wayback Machine, Ussa.edu, 13 January 2016
- ^ JFA renews partnership with United Arab Emirates, Jfa.jp, 2 December 2016
- ^ Mike Henson, Asamoah Gyan deemed to have 'unethical hair' in United Arab Emirates, Bbc.com, 15 February 2017
- ^ Qatar Gulf Cup boycott is over Kuwait's FIFA ban, UAE FA says, Sbs.com.au, 18 October 2017
External links
- Official website (in English)