Football
in UAE
Football is a very popular sport
that is practiced widely in the United Arab Emirates, and not even in UAE, it
is the most popular game in all over the world. I talked to an old man by the
name Ismail Musa who knows a lot about football and its history in
UAE. This is because he played the game in his youth and has seen the
transition of the game over the years. This paper is going to look at the
history of football in the UAE, the transition that the sport has gone through
and the position it has now.
According to Mr. Ismail,
football in the UAE is a game that has been popular since the seventies when he
used to play it professionally. He started playing football as a teenager in
school but later as a young adult, he participated in a professional capacity.
He says that United Arab Emirates Football Association was formed in the year
1971. This was the governing body of the sport that later became connected to
FIFA after four years. During the seventies, football was a game that was
played as a recreational activity. He says the professional football players
were not many and the game was not playing as a profession. During his free
time as a young man, they would form small teams with his age mates and play
the sport as a leisure activity.
In the recent years, football has
been given much recognition and is played in a more professional capacity. This
is evident in the fact that there are even professional players that the
country is importing to play. In the past, UAE did not compete internationally
in football. Nowadays, the sport is played internationally with leagues that
are from outside UAE. The availability of various national cups is evidence
that the sport is fast gaining popularity and people are taking it more
seriously. There is the Etisalat Emirates cup, President’s cup and the Vice
President’s cup. Another change is that the country now competes in the UAE FA
cup, which has gained international recognition.
