Please post any information on WAFF nations that do not have a specific thread dedicated to themselves: Nations can include: WAFF Members Iran Iraq Jordan Lebanon Palestine Qatar Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen
UAE League Al Ahli have been given a tough start to their Pro League defence with a demanding road trip to Al Wahda on September 25. The draw for the second season of professional league football in the country, made at the UAE Football Association premises in Abu Dhabi on Thursday night, has thrown up a few more appetising first round matches with runners-up Al Jazira hosting the 2008 champions Al Shabab and Al Nasr travelling to their happy hunting ground, Al Ain. In other first round action, Al Wasl will play promoted side Baniyas at home, Al Sharjah will travel to Ras al Khaimah for their opening match against Emirates, while Ajman will make the long drive to Al Dhafra. After their tough start, Ahli will host Al Ain in the second week and are scheduled to meet Jazira in the ninth round at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium. Jazira will have two tough matches at home in the third and fourth week. They will meet Wahda in the Abu Dhabi derby on October 18 and then face-off against Al Ain a week later. Ahli, who clinched the title by one point over Jazira, have been drawn in the same group as Wahda for the etisalat Emirates Cup as well, with the tournament beginning on October 8. Before the start of the Pro League, Ahli will meet President’s Cup winners Al Ain for the Super Cup at the Dubai Sports City on September 14. http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090821/SPORT/908219990/1031
Upcoming games in the region Omani Super up Super Cup kick's off the season on Monday; Al Suwaiq take on Al Nahda UAE Presidents Cup The early rounds of the Presidents Cup have started, this year, the lower ranked teams have been put into 4 groups, rather than the straight knockout version in previous years. Al Ain International Championship The inaugural Al Ain International championship is currently underway. A four team tournament featuring: Al Ain Al Qadsia Kuwait Al Riffa Bahrain Al Shabab (Oman) Al Nasr International Tournament The inaugural Al Nasr International Tournament is currently underway. A four team tournament featuring: Al Nasr Al Karamah Pirouzi Al Faisaly Jordan Youth Clubs Arab Championship Youth tournament, featuring 8 teams, 2 groups of four. Group A: Al Ramtha (Jordan) Iraq National Youth team Jordan Youth Club Tishreen SC (Syria) Group B: Arbil Al Wihdat Al Majd Al Hussein (Jordan) Al Jazeera Emirates Friendly Four team tournament featuring: Al Jazira Al Ettifaq Al Oruba Al Kuwait
Al Nahda lifted the Omani Super Cup, the curtian raiser to the Omani League on Monday, defeating Al Suwaiq 1-0.
Can anyone help? I'm looking for a final league table for the Omani League 2001/02 campaign. If anyone can help me, then please help me!!
Congratulations to Umm Salal on winning the 2009 Sheikh Jassem Cup, the opening tournament to the Qatari season.
Iraq won the 2nd WAFF Futsal Championship Iraq 10 points Jordan 7 Points Bahrain 6 points Lebanon 6 points Syria 0 points http://www.kooora.com/default.aspx?showarticle=55148&obj=0
Oman Mobile League kick-off today MUSCAT — The Oman Mobile football league kicks off today at the Seeb Stadium under the auspices of Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi, chairman of Oman Football Association (OFA). The opening ceremony will be held at 9pm at the Seeb stadium and followed by the inaugural match. During the ceremony the official logo of the league will be revealed to the public for the first time. Six venues This year OFA has restricted the Oman Mobile League to six main venues the main one being Sultan Qaboos Sports Stadium (SQSC) in Bausher, the other venues are Seeb, Ibri, Salalah, Sur and Sohar. This is to meet the policy of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) criteria on the average attendance of spectators for professional league matches. The Oman Mobile League is comprised of 12 teams and 66 matches and will be played over a period of three months. The teams participating in the league are Oman Club, Al Nasr, Al Nahda, Al Shaban, Al Khaboura, Al Arouba, Dhofar, Al Suwaiq, Muscat, Al Taleya, Saham, and Al Seeb. After the opening ceremony Al Khaboura will take the field to clash with Al Arouba at 9.30pm. The other matches that will be taking place simultaneously at the various stadiums will be Oman Club versus Al Nasr at SQSC, Defenders Al Nahda will face Al Shaban at the Ibri Stadium and Dhofar will play Al Suwaiq at the Salalah Stadium. http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=28529
Bahraini Football League THE 2009-'10 season of the Bahrain Premier Division Soccer League is all set to kick off tomorrow with an exciting clash between Busaiteen and Manama. The tie will be played at the National Stadium in Riffa, and is scheduled to get underway at 7pm. Busaiteen and Manama are two of the kingdom's fastest rising clubs. Busaiteen finished an impressive fifth last season among 19 squads in the Bahrain Classification Soccer League, while Manama were seventh. Both teams comfortable secured their places in the premier division, and each showed signs of soon becoming top contenders. Tomorrow's tie is the lone fixture on schedule for opening night. The first week of action continues on Friday, with another two matches at the National Stadium. Starting at 4.45pm, defending champions Muharraq begin their campaign against Al Hala. It will be followed at 6.45pm by last season's runners-up Riffa taking on Al Malkiya. Both Muharraq and Riffa are once again tipped to be among the top title-contenders this year. They have been the only two clubs to win the league since 1996. Muharraq will be gunning for their 32nd-ever national title and an unprecedented fifth in a row. Riffa, on the other hand, are aiming for their 11th crown overall and are hoping to regain the championship they last won for the 2004-'05 season. Conclusion Week one will then conclude on Saturday, with a pair of games set to be played at the Muharraq Club Stadium in Arad. The evening's first fixture sees Al Ahli take on Al Shabab, followed by East Riffa facing Al Najma. Ahli and East Riffa were third and fourth, respectively, in the league last season, and will be looking to finally break the stranglehold Muharraq and Riffa have held over the past decade-and-a-half. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=260380
UAE Super Cup Al Ain take the season opener, defeating Al Ahli 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in normal time.
Jordan League Wehdat coach Mahmoud resigns AMMAN: The fledgeling Jordanian League has claimed its first casualty after Al Wehdat coach Jamal Mahmoud resigned following poor results. Wehdat drew with Al Ramtha 1-1 in the opener before ekeing out another 1-1 stalemate with Kufer Soom following which Mahmoud decided to fall on his own sword. “I resigned after the results which was not what the club supporters wanted to see,” Mahmoud told Al Rai newspaper. Mahmoud’s exit comes two months after Iraqi trainer Adel Yousuf was sacked after Wehdat lost the Jordan FA Shield to Al Faisaly. “I want to say sorry to the fans and the club management and thank them for supporting me during this difficult period.” Mahmoud said the club was missing several key players. “Several players were missing due to various reasons. Some left to play outside Jordan like Hassan Abdulfattah, who moved to UAE, while others had problems with the either injury or suspension.” Wehdat win the league last season and qualified for the AFC Cup 2010 besides winning all the four domestic titles on offer. After losing the Jordan FA shield this season, Wehdat won the Super Cup after beating Shabab Al Ordun in the final. http://www.the-afc.com/en/member-association-news/west-asia-news/25524-wehdat-coach-mahmoud-resigns
Qatar The QFA have launched another competition this season, the Qatari Stars Cup. This has been added to the calender due to the recent re-structuring of the domestic league which has about 10 games less than last year. You can bet your bottom dollar that the usual suspects will be the favorites to win this new tournament. It now begs the question, do we simply have to many tournaments?
UAE League Managerial Changes The changes have already started with only 5 games into the season. Ze Mario has been sacked at Ajman and replaced by Tunisian Ghazi Ghrayri Fellow Brazilian Toninho Cerezo has been dismissed at Al Shabab and been replaced by Iraqi Abdelkader Abdel Wahab
UAE Presidents Cup - Round Two Draw Fixtures: (November 23) Al Ahli vs Sharjah; Al Khaleej vs Al Shabab; Al Dhafrah vs Al Orooba; Al Shaab vs Al Jazira. (November 24) Al Wahda vs Baniyas; Ittihad Kalba vs Al Nasr; Al Wasl vs Emirates Club; Ajman vs Al Ain.
I wonder if there will be a WAFF Championship in 2010. There are no news about the tournament so far.
Well yes, it's kind of on a two year cycle. It appears to always be played in the middle of the year, but next year, rule out June and July. So possibly an August date, same as 2008. But they will need to pick a host fairly quickly. Assuming it is played, who do you think should be host? I'd be tempted to throw it at either Lebanon or Iraq tbh.
UAE League The season might only be 6 games old, but we already have had 4 managerial changes since pre-season: Sharjah - Manuel Cajuda replaced Abdelkader Abdel Wahab Al Shabbab - Abdelkader Abdel Wahab replaced Toninho Cerezo Ajman - Ghazi Ghrayri replaced Ze Mario Al Ahli - Mahdi Ali replaced Ioan Andone Who's next to go?
I think it will go to Lebanon, they were supposed to host it in 2006, 2007 and 2008 but it was moved from there because of the political turmoil. They have a decent shot at 2010 because the country seems to be very stable now. Iraq might get a chance to host it 2012. With the admission of the UAE, Yemen and Qatar the tournament will be for sure more competitive now.
Kuwaiti Football Al Kuwait have won the season opening Federation Cup (3rd edition). Defeating Al Arabi 7-6 on pens after a 0-0 draw in normal time. A succesful 2009 for Al Kuwait, building on the AFC Cup win.
Iraq are currently banned and Kuwait could soon join them!! Given a deadline of 31st Jan 2010 to sort themselves out. http://www.the-afc.com/en/news/26240-kuwait-given-fifa-deadline