UAE Football Association, UAE Football

Mr President, how would you comment on the current football development in the UAE, administratively and technically?

Well, I think we have gone a long way as far as football is concerned in this country. With taking into account a limited number of players we have in this country, that is to say, about 100. Football had started here years before the foundation of the country. But officially, we started having clubs etc. after 1971 when the UAE was established. Looking back at all those years, I think that we have technically marked a good reputation. To sum up: we qualified the World Cup in Italy in 1990, which was a big achievement. In 1996 we became second during the Asian Cup. We achieved twice the 2^nd position in the Arabian Gulf Competition and we won last year for the first time in the history of our country as far as the main national team is concerned. In terms of youth football, football players under 20 or 16, we have also had a couple of achievements. They did not do very well in the World Cup but the fact that we were qualified and played against the biggest international teams still represents an achievement for us. Our clubs have also marked a few good achievements on the territory as well as on the Asian continent. One of our clubs won the Asian Champions League, the biggest championship. A couple of our clubs won the GCC Cup for clubs. This is really good for a country of our size which has a limited number of players and clubs.Technically, I think we are fine. We know which path to follow now. We have invested in good coaches and venues. The clubs have been revising their plans for the youngsters now. So we have a lot of academies in this country.

This brings me to my 2^nd question. How do you nurture and develop young talents in the UAE?

Some of the clubs have established their own academies based on best practices. Some others have affiliated themselves to big clubs in Europe where they can, for example, exchange experience. Now we have the Manchester United Soccer School in Dubai, Inter Milan is coming to Abu Dhabi in order to establish an academy. We are also planning to build academies in places such as Fujairah and Ras-Al Khaimah. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah put great emphasis on football. Therefore we would like to help other Emirates to develop football in their regions.

Are you looking into some international partnerships with some big clubs?

We are open to this question. A lot of people who come to the UAE bring new ideas. The UAE has become very accessible. Recently, a talent delegation came on a visit to the UAE and suggested great ideas. Now we work on two levels: the clubs do their homework by preparing a large number of players and the Federation selects and invests into the best talents. At present, we have 7 national teams. Each team has its own technical, medical and administration staff with long-term experience. So we have stability and a clear vision, which is the development of football. This explains why we are working very closely with the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). But we also have links regarding this with the FIFA. In contrary to other countries around us it has always praised all the steps that we have taken. It has always praised the UAE for the quick development, in spite of their limitations. We have marked a good reputation worldwide, regionally and on the continent.

How do you see the UAE prospect of qualifying for the World Cup?

Well, we are still on the run facing a very difficult cup with Iran Syria and Kuwait. We have obtained 5 points in 3 games. Winning the 2 home games means qualifying for the final round in September – which will be more difficult. Our objective is to finish the 3 games and qualify as first or second and then wait 3 months in order to see who is going to play and where – as there will be long journeys to Australia and Japan, if they qualify. Hopefully, we will qualify for this cup so that we can prepare for the final round. It is a dream that we can fulfil. We are not the best team but we are doing our best, the football players are putting all their effort, the technical staff is working very hard to prepare the team. If we make it, that will be a big achievement because 20 years ago when we qualified for the World Cup Italia a lot of things were missing. Football has become a difficult sport activity. The national teams are working on a lot of things that were missing 20 years ago. The national players are fitter, faster and quicker – they play much better than a couple of years ago. The current team reminds us of the team that qualified for the World Cup Italia. There were good groups, good coaches and a good environment. So we are keeping our fingers crossed for the 2010 qualification.

You mentioned some of the obstacles in this context. What are the main challenges for football in the UAE? Does the weather or a limited number of players represent one of these challenges?

Well, the weather is something we have got used to. We are trying to work on our agendas around the world. So we do not play during the period of June, July, August. But the main limitation is the number of players and talents. Still the UAE is not like many countries around us. Many things have been changing: the kids do not play football like they used to do 30 or 35 years ago. When I was young we plaid football the whole day when we wouldn´t have school. But now it is rare to see kids playing football in the neighbourhood. We used to have a lot of spaces in our neighbourhoods. But now it is too difficult as a result of the development of the country and the creation of buildings that take too much space. The other limitaion is the situation of the clubs: about 50% of them do not have the financial credibility to develop themselves, they need support from the Federation, the local government or the federal government for instance. We are trying to focus on those clubs because 50% means that 50% of the UAE´s power and support are not fully authorized. So this is to be considered as a 2^nd limitation. One of the most important mission during my term is to focus on how to help these clubs to develop – and thus in all aspects: in their venues, their plans and technical consultations. We know that we have a lot of talents.

One of your most important achievements is that the UAE is going to host the 2009 and 2010 Football Club World Cup. In this context, how did you manage to attract such a high-profile event? What is the appeal of the UAE?

This region attracts a lot of people. It also has a lot of passion for football. Luckily, the 3 countries who bid for the Club World Club were from the same Confederation – Australia, Japan and UAE. So it was up to the President of the AFC to convince the FIFA Congress of this decision. We had been working on this file for a very long time and all the agencies of the country put a lot of effort on it. We submitted the file with the help of the government, the local government or us as a Confederation. We added to this file that we would sponsor football in Palestine. We will spend 5 million Euros over 5 years to put venues and to develop football there. The AFC and the FIFA found our suggestion very interesting. In addition, Japan has been hosting this tournament for the last 5 years. As far as Australia is concerned, it is a very big country; it can host any kind of tournaments. They did it for the Olympic Games and they were great. But important European clubs have to fly to Australia and then go back to Europe to play their local leagues. Therefore 8 European members were not happy about the tournament taking place in Australia. That is one thing. The other thing is that the AFC President thought that Japan had already been given a chance. And Australia was not very welcomed by some of the important members in the Executive Office, so why not giving a chance to the UAE? The file is a good file, so that is how they chose us. This great moment will attach value to our country and especially to football in our country.

What other Emirates will co-host the event?

Actually, we just have one stadium at the moment that meets the criteria. The Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, the second one, is under construction. They are building an extension to hold up to 42 000 people. There is also stadium under construction in Dubai, which also holds this capacity. We might play one of the matches in Dubai if the stadium is ready by December 2009. The rest of the games will be played in Zayed City, the biggest Stadium, and in the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium.

How many visitors, do you think, will this event attract?

In Japan they received up to 15 000 spectators coming from abroad – a fairly good figure. But actually it depends on the clubs. I hope that clubs who qualify for this championship will be the most important in South America or Europe. That would mean a lot of spectators will come and join them here. In addition to that, we have a lot of expatriates here from all over the world. They will also support their own clubs. So I hope there will be more than 15 000.

How will you host all these people?

I think we can host more than that if we take into consideration the number of hotels we have in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and the ongoing projects. This will be an easy task.

Together with Formula 1 in 2009 Abu Dhabi is becoming a world business and sport venue in the world. Is this your intention?

Yes, of course, as a citizen of this country. I am happy to see my country hosting big events of this kind. I am sure it is also government’s intention. In addition to that, Dubai will be hosting the Beach Soccer World Cup in 2009. If FIFA had not trusted us it would not have given us two major championships in one year. But it did: so we are hosting the Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai and the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi in the same year.

Do you think this might also bring the business community to the UAE?

The business community has been here for a long time. The environment here has attracted a lot of businessmen and investments have been shifting from countries around us to the UAE. I think we are offering more than others, that is why people come to our country. It is save, rich and there is a lot of potential in all our sectors. Now we have many investors and businessmen coming to the UAE.

Will this sport event positively enhance political relationships between countries?

Usually people say that sport fixes what politics rule. I am sure that sport brings people together. As far as politics is concerned, I hope that sport enhances political relationships. With Football we want people from different parts of the world to get to know each other, to have fun together in the stadium.

You hosted the Golf Cup 2007 and several Youth Championships in 2003. What were the positive effects of those venues?

We promoted the UAE so that people could get to know us more and more. We taught a lot of UAE nationals how to work in committees and how to organize big events of this kind.In 2003 the 24 teams were composed of different players coming from all over the world to the UAE. And I am sure that 5 years after the tournament many players are now playing first-class-football and are top-players in their country. So it was advantageous for our players, for our media and for our clubs. Everybody benefited from those events.

You have also gained some international recognition for UAE Football. To host this event, are you looking for some international expertise or some partners?

When a country hosts a match through the FIFA, it is the FIFA that organizes the whole Committee. So the FIFA will be bringing its own expertise. The Federation will also send some people to this Committee and there will be some members and agencies from Abu Dhabi, too. So our expertise and those of the FIFA form a unified Committee.

Who would you like to see participating in the competition?

I would like to see big clubs coming because we want to learn from the best. Big clubs are always well-organized and competitive. And as we will start our first competitive league next year in the UAE we have to be prepared. So we are very lucky to host such a big tournament after having finished our first traditional league. I like some clubs in Europe but I do not want to tell any names; I just want to see the best ones.

In the future, do you think you might be having a chance to host the 2018 World Club?

Well, that is a big question, it is a big commitment. I cannot, as a President of the Federation, comment on that. This is a governmental commitment. I can tell you that they have not really thought about that yet. We need to do a lot of work before thinking about that. And the FIFA has to reschedule the dates, the Kick Off for the World Cup because it always takes place in the summer. It will not be possible to do that here in the UAE. So to answer your question, no, we as a Federation do not know anything about that and the government has not seemed to have thought about it either. As a matter of fact, even if we had thought about it, 2018 would still be too soon. Maybe many years after that. This will depend on our infrastructure and on the FIFA´s willingness to change the dates of the World Cup.

You said you had relationships with Italians and that they had some ideas. Can you comment on that?

The Italians would like to help in many aspects such as opening academies in neutral zones like Africa. With both, the UAE and Italy investing in them. They also want local coaches from the UAE to attend courses in Italy. So there are a lot of things that Italy wants to do with us. Not only Italy but also other countries are willing to cooperate with us. Our vision is to meet the best outside. There is no point in staying in our region. If we want to improve we have to affiliate the best practices. So we do not have anything against these adventures.

To finalize the interview what is your dream as far as the UAE Football is concerned?

We would like play in the 2010 World Cup. We would like to qualify for the World Cup under 20 next year. I want all our clubs to meet the AFC requirements and to become professional clubs. I want our clubs to convert into commercial entities with less government interference.