Al Ain Football Club
Founded in 1968 in Al Ain, Al Ain Football Club is the winner of
the 2003 Asian Champions League and the first and only UAE club to win the AFC
Champions League. It is also the 9-time champion of the UAE Pro League. HH
General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy
Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive
Council, is the President of the club and Chairman of Honorary Board. In
addition to Football, the club has later expanded to volleyball, handball,
basketball, athletics and swimming, among others. Both the 15,000-seater Sheikh
Khalifa International Stadium and Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium belong to Al Ain
Football Club.
Al Ain Sports and Cultural Club was established
in 1968 in Al Ain city, Abu Dhabi. It has evolved to become one of the most decorated
sports club in the UAE. Football was the first activity offered by the club. However,
as the popularity of the club grew it registered teams in volleyball, handball,
basketball, athletics, swimming, and other competitions. In all endeavors the
achievements of these teams upheld the club’s mission to be ranked one of the
best sport clubs in the world.
With the advent of professionalism in
sports, the club has taken on a new challenge to expand its administrative and
commercial horizons to capitalize on the commercial interest in sports.
Al Ain Football Club
Al Ain Football Club, transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn
Sport in
the United
Arab Emirates is
widely practiced by the people of the UAE. Football is the most popular sport in the UAE.
Among the notable UAE sports achievements is the 2002–03 AFC Champions League won by Al Ain FC who also finished second in the 2005
AFC Champions League. The
UAE qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals for the first and only time so far
in 1990, the fourth Middle-Eastern country to have qualified for the World Cup
after first Egypt ( qualified for Italy in 1934 ), then, Kuwait (qualified for
Spain in 1982), and Iraq (qualified for Mexico again in 1986).
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Football is the most popular sport in the UAE. The United
Arab Emirates Football Association
was first established in 1968 and since then has dedicated its time and
effort to promoting the game, organizing youth programs and improving the abilities of not only its
players, but of the officials and coaches involved with its regional teams. The UAE
national football team qualified
for the FIFA World Cup in 1990 with Egypt.
It was the third consecutive World Cup with two Arab nations qualifying after Kuwait and Algeria in 1982 and Iraq and Algeria again in 1986.
The
UAE national team won the 2005 Kirin Cup, sharing the cup with Peru after a
1–0 victory over the host country Japan.
The UAE team played a four-team friendly in Switzerland in July 2005, in which
they beat both Qatar and Kuwait but lost 5–4 on penalties in the
final against Egypt. In 2003, the UAE was the host nation of the FIFA U-20 World Cup between November and December 2003. In
April, Dubai Holding agreed to provide the national team with Dh20 million
(US$5.45 million) sponsorship money over the next four years. The fund will
also go towards developing the sport.
The
UAE also recently won the Gulf Cup of Nations held in Abu Dhabi in January 2007. The UAE
are currently ranked 110th in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings. Abu Dhabi United Group have
recently purchased Manchester City Football Club. A Dubai consortium known as DIC (Dubai
International Capital) is also interested in buying the English Premier League club, Liverpool F.C. The UAE U-16 national
football team qualified for the 2009 Youth World Cup which was held in Nigeria.
The UAE U-19 national football team was also qualified for the World Youth Cup finals to be held in Egypt the year after.
H.H First General Sheikh Mohamed Bin
Zayed Al Nahyan
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and
Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces
Al Ain Club President - Honorary Board President
H.H Sheikh Hazaa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Al Ain Club First Deputy President
H.H Sheikh Tahnon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Al Ain Club Second
Deputy President
Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohd Bin Khaled Al Nehayan
Board Of Directors Chairman of Al Ain Club Football Company
H.E Rashed Mubarak Al Hajeri
Vice Chairman of Board of Directors of Al Ain Club Football Company