Saudi Arabian Football Federation

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (Arabic: الاتحاد العربي السعودي لكرة القدم‎) (SAFF) is the football governing body of Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1956,[2] its responsibilities include administration of club competitions and national teams. The founder of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation is Abdullah bin Faisal al saud.

Saudi Arabian Football Federation
الاتحاد العربي السعودي لكرة القدم
AbbreviationSAFF
Founded1956 (1956)
AffiliationFIFA (1956)
AFC (1972)[1]
UAFA (1974)
WAFF (2010)
AGCFF (2016)
HeadquartersRiyadh
PresidentYasser almisehal
Vice president(s)Khaled althubaity
Official website
www.saff.com.sa

Controversies

During 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, the fixtures between Saudi Arabia and Palestine were switched after Saudi Arabia cited “exceptional conditions” for their inability to travel to the West Bank.[3] The return fixture, originally to be played on 13 October 2015 at the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Al-Ram, was later postponed due to Saudi Arabia's refusal to pass through Israeli-controlled borders,[4] until the process of agreeing on the venue was concluded.[5] The match was rescheduled to be played on 5 November 2015 in Palestine, after the Palestinian Football Association gave full security guarantees for the match.[6] The match was later further delayed until 9 November, and to be changed to a neutral venue in Asia, as the Palestinian government confirmed that it could no longer guarantee the safety and security for the match.[7] The neutral venue was announced to be Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan.[8]

In 2016, the Saudi FA refused to travel to Iran during the 2016 AFC Champions League.[9]

On 8 June 2017, the Saudi Arabian national team failed to observe a moment of silence before a World Cup qualifying match against Australia in honor of the 2017 London Bridge attack victims.[10]

In November 2017, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain pulled out of the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup due to the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis. However, they eventually participated in the competition after the host country was moved to Kuwait.

List of presidents of SAFF

The following is a list of presidents of Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) since its establishment.

Domestic competitions
Leagues
Cups

National teams

References
  1. "Arabia and Yemen are new members". The Straits Times. 28 July 1972.
  2. "FIFA.com - Saudi Arabia on FIFA.com". fifa.com. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  3. "Palestine and Saudi Arabia agree to swap venues for World Cup qualifier". The National (UAE). 8 June 2015.
  4. "World Cup 2018: Palestinians and Saudi Arabia at loggerheads over key game". CNN. 29 September 2015.
  5. "FIFA statement on the Palestine-Saudi Arabia 2018 FIFA World Cup™ qualifier". FIFA.com. 7 October 2015.
  6. "Palestine vs Saudi Arabia 2018 FIFA World Cup™ qualifier to be played on 5 November". FIFA.com. 21 October 2015.
  7. "Palestine to play Saudi Arabia and Malaysia on neutral ground". FIFA.com. 4 November 2015.
  8. "Amman the venue for Palestine qualifiers". FIFA.com. 5 November 2015.
  9. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/saudis-refuse-to-travel-to-iran-for-acl
  10. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jun/08/saudi-arabia-footballers-ignore-minutes-silence-for-london-attack-victims


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