Football in Saudi Arabia

Football in Saudi Arabia
King Fahd International Stadium
Country Saudi Arabia
Governing body Saudi Arabia Football Federation
National team(s) men's national team
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

Football is the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia.[1] Football in Saudi Arabia is governed by Saudi Arabia Football Federation (Arabic: الاتحاد السعودي لكرة القدم‎). It was founded in the year of 1956.[2] It performs the function of administering both the club competitions and the national football team of Saudi Arabia.

The founder of Saudi Arabia Football Federation is Prince Abdullah bin Faisal al Saud.

History

National Football team

Uruguay - Saudi Arabia match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia

The Saudi Arabia national football team (Arabic: منتخب السعودية لكرة القدم‎), known to its fans as Al-Saqour which means The Falcons. Saudi Arabia is one of the most successful football teams in Asia. Saudi Arabia has won the Asian Championship 3 times and has qualified for the FIFA World Cup four times, the first of which was in 1994.

Saudi Arabia has a major rivalry with Iran.

League

The Saudi Professional League is the highest level of competition in the country. In the 1970s, football was organized on a regional basis across Saudi Arabia.[3] Since 2013, the Saudi Pro League has been sponsored by the Abdul Latif Jameel company.

In 1976–77, with the improvement of transportation links as well as local football, the Saudi Professional League was launched on a national basis. 8 clubs participated in the first season of the tournament.

In 1981, a decision was taken by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation to increase the number of clubs, thereby increasing the league to 18 clubs, 8 of which take part in the 1st League, with another 10 competing in the 2nd League. In the 1985–85 season the number of clubs in the 1st League was increased to 12 clubs.

In 1990, a new league championship was also introduced, known as The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques League Cup. It was a 2-stage competition – round robin and knockout-phase. The top 4 teams (knowns as the Golden Square) from the round robin moved to the knock-out phase to compete for the final championship.

In 2007–08 season, The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques Champions Cup was introduced for the more elite teams to compete for. 8 teams play in that competition which includes top 6 teams of the 1st League plus the winner of the Crown Prince Cup and the winner of the Prince Faisal Cup.

National Team

National Ranking

As of 30 August 2017, Saudi Arabia was placed 59 on the FIFA World Ranking.

Achievements

League of Saudi Arabia

There are three professional football league levels of Saudi Arabia:

List of Champions of the previous seasons

No. Season Champion
11976–77Al-Hilal
21977–78Al-Ahli
31978–79Al-Hilal
41979–80Al-Nassr
51980–81Al-Nassr
61981–82Al-Ittihad
71982–83Al-Ettifaq
81983–84Al-Ahli
91984–85Al-Hilal
101985–86Al-Hilal
111986–87Al-Ettifaq
121987–88Al-Hilal
131988–89Al-Nassr
141989–90Al-Hilal
151990–91Al-Shabab
161991–92Al-Shabab
171992–93Al-Shabab
181993–94Al-Nassr
191994–95Al-Nassr
201995–96Al-Hilal
211996–97Al-Ittihad
221997–98Al-Hilal
231998–99Al-Ittihad
241999–2000Al-Ittihad
252000–01Al-Ittihad
262001–02Al-Hilal
272002–03Al-Ittihad
282003–04Al-Shabab
292004–05Al-Hilal
302005–06Al-Shabab
312006–07Al-Ittihad
322007–08Al-Hilal
332008–09Al-Ittihad
342009–10Al-Hilal
352010–11Al-Hilal
362011–12Al-Shabab
372012–13Al-Fateh
382013–14Al-Nassr
392014–15Al-Nassr
402015–16Al-Ahli
412016–17Al-Hilal
422017–18Al-Hilal


Performance by Club

No. Club Winners Winning Years
1Al-Hilal
15
1977, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2018
2Al-Ittihad
8
1982, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009
3Al-Nassr
7
1980, 1981, 1989, 1994, 1995, 2014, 2015
4Al-Shabab
6
1991, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2006, 2012
5Al-Ahli
3
1978, 1984, 2016
6Al-Ettifaq
2
1983, 1987
7Al-Fateh
1
2013

Achievements

Saudi Stadiums

Best Player of Asia Award

  • In 1984 , 1985 ,1986 – Majed Abdullah – Al Nassr club
  • In 1994 – Saeed Al-Owairan – Al Shabab Club
  • In 2000 – Nawaf Al-Temyat – Al Hilal Club
  • In 2005 – Hamad Al Montashiri – Al Ittihad Club
  • In 2007 – Yasser Al Qahatani – Al Hilal Club
  • In 2015 − Nasser Al Shamrani – Al Hilal Club

League system

The Saudi Arabia association football league system is organized in a pyramidal shape similar to football league systems in many other countries around the world. The leagues are bound by the principle of promotion and relegation

Women's football

Women's football is played in Saudi Arabia, but only in the affluent areas, as the country's very restrictive laws (especially those concerning women) inhibit the practice of the sport.[4][5]


Saudi Arabia Football Privatization

The government of Saudi Arabia in November 2016 approved plans to turn state-owned sports clubs into private companies.[6]. This is part of the economic reforms to reduce Saudi reliance on oil exports and ease financial burdens on the government [7].

The Saudi National Football Team has won the Asian Championship three times and has qualified for the FIFA World Cup four times. The Saudi Football League has been ranked 27th in 2015 by the International Federation of Football [8].

Football sport is one of the most popular with over 4 billion followers in the world [9]

People Excellence

References

  1. ↑ "James Dorsey: Soccer Emerges as Focal Point of Dissent in Saudi Arabia". Huffingtonpost.com. 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  2. ↑ "FIFA.com - Saudi Arabia on FIFA.com". fifa.com. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Jones, Rory (2013-05-01). "Saudi Arabia Seeks to Upgrade Domestic Professional Soccer - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  4. ↑ Templin, Jacob (2012-08-07). "Video: The Secret Life of a Saudi Women's Soccer Team | World | TIME.com". World.time.com. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  5. ↑ Wagner, Rob L. "Women's soccer making headway in Saudi Ara... JPost – Middle East". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  6. ↑ "Privatization of sports clubs welcomed to bring quality shift in Saudi sports". 23 November 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. ↑ El-Erian, Mohamed A. (16 May 2016). "Saudi Arabia's attempt to reduce reliance on oil has the world rapt". the Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "THE STRONGEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD 2015 - IFFHS". 7 January 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "25 World's Most Popular Sports (Ranked by 13 factors)". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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