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Gulf Insider
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Gulf Insider
UAE Football Association Suspends 2 Players for 5 Matches
UAE Football Association announced the suspension of 2 players for 5 matches in local competitions. The association's disciplinary committee named the two sportspersons — Sharjah Club player Khalid Al Dhanhani and Shabab Al Ahli Club player Sultan Adel. The association said they would be excluded from the national team roster, and fined them Dh500,000 each. This comes after the two players committed a violation inside the national team camp on June 7. The national team manager, Yani Allah, said the decision comes in accordance with the disciplinary and sanctions regulations for national teams. Shabab Al Ahli Club said it has decided to take necessary disciplinary measures against the player in accordance with its internal regulations. The club affirmed its strong rejection and condemnation of any behavior that contradicts the rules and regulations of the national teams and the Football Association. 'Representing the national team is a great honour for every player. Players are ambassadors for the nation, bearing the responsibility of reflecting an honorable image through their commitment to values, discipline, and sportsmanship,' the club said in a social media post. UAE regularly ensures that sports events take place in the right spirit, imposing fines and disciplinary actions on players or fans who show unruly behaviour. In May, Dubai-based football clubs Al Wasl and Shabab Al Ahli were fined a total of Dh150,000 following events that unfolded during the Adnoc Pro League match. The fans of both the clubs insulted each other, and threw liquid bottles onto the pitch and at the opposing team's fans. Al Wasl fans also a smoke bomb. Earlier this year, two football fans were arrested for using distress signal flares during matches. Also read: UAE Weather: Fog Alert in Abu Dhabi, NCM Forecasts Rain on Monday
Khaleej Times
28-05-2025
- General
- Khaleej Times
Look: UAE President honours Shabab Al Ahli for historic football season
After a spectacular football season, Shabab Al Ahli Football Club continued their celebrations with a special reception hosted by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Qasr Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi. The reception celebrated the club's spectacular achievements during the 2024–2025 season, during which they secured four major titles: the UAE President's Cup, the Adnoc Pro League, the UAE Super Cup, and the UAE-Qatar Challenge Shield. Sheikh Mohamed congratulated the players, head coach, and the club's administrative and technical staff, as well as the fans, on their achievement. He praised the team's remarkable performance throughout the season and also commended the players for their exemplary sportsmanship, which he described as a key factor in the team's success. Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels. Shabab Al Ahli's performance this season was capped off with a 2-1 victory over Al Jazira in the final round of the Adnoc Pro League, held at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Lukamilivojovic and Munas Dabour scored in the second half, securing the win despite an early goal by Al Jazira's Buddy de Oliveira. The victory earned Shabab Al Ahli their fifth league title in the professional era and the ninth in the club's overall history. They finished the season at the top of the table with 63 points from 26 matches, having won 19, drawn six, and lost just one. The team scored a total of 57 goals while conceding only 22. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shabab Al Ahli Club extended his congratulations to the board members, players, and staff, and praised the team's consistency and high-level performance throughout the season. This historic season has bolstered the Shabab Al Ahli's legacy as one of the premier football institutions in the UAE.
Arab News
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Al-Jazira stun star-studded Shabab Al-Ahli and take ADIB Cup final glory
AL-AIN: Abdullah Ramadan's remarkable 40-yard wonder strike and fancy footwork from ex-Fulham winger Neeskens Kebano helped fire underdogs Al-Jazira to a deserved 2-1 ADIB Cup final victory against star-studded Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club on Saturday night. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Hazza bin Zayed Stadium was a fitting setting for Saturday's epic showpiece between two heavyweights of the UAE game. On the day, Sharjah's serial winner Cosmin Olaroiu was confirmed as new national team head coach, prize midfielder Ramadan shook off an injury-ravaged campaign and generated a jaw-dropping reminder of his mesmerising talents on 18 minutes by blasting in from range. This slender advantage for Adnoc Pro League's distant sixth-placed side against the runaway leaders would evaporate five minutes into the second half when prolific Iranian forward Sardar Azmoun followed up his own effort to level. But the momentum of Paulo Sousa's men was immediately checked on 55 minutes when DR Congo flyer Kebano produced a series of beguiling stepovers and lashed into the bottom corner. Shabab Al-Ahli continued to predictably boss possession with 62 percent, and attempts on goal (17-9), although theynever truly looked like mounting a comeback to avoid this term's first domestic defeat. The final whistle handed the spirited Pride of Abu Dhabi their second ADIB Cup crown and just third trophy since the 2017-2018 season off. Arab News looks at some key talking points from the decider: A new era for Jazira The 2024-2025 season has been a time of change for Jazira. Club legend and record goal scorer Ali Mabkhout made a high-profile summer departure to Al-Nasr, while they began this campaign without a permanent Dutch manager at the helm for the first time since Brazilian Abel Braga's mistaken summer 2015 return. Bold calls that have not always appeared judicious via mixed fortunes under Morocco's Hussein Ammouta. This, however, felt like a fork in the road. Big-name stars stood up tall, France's World Cup 2018 winning playmaker Nabil Fekir oozed class with every silky touch and ex-Arsenal stalwart Mohamed Elneny battled hard from an unfamiliar centre-back role. Ammouta's residual capacity to inspire, as shown with shock 2023 AFC Asian Cup finalists Jordan, was also on display. Heroes emerged across the pitch — including starlets Mamadou Coulibaly, Vinicius Mello, Ravil Tagir and Ilyass Lagrimi. This could be the start of something very special. Shabab Al-Ahli continue to stumble at the finishing line Another big game, another big disappointment for Shabab Al-Ahli. ADIB Cup final defeat follows elimination in the AFC Champions League Elite play-off round to Qatar's unexceptional Al-Gharafa and penalty shootout defeat to rivals Sharjah in the AFC Champions League Two quarter-finals. This campaign could finish with the Adnoc Pro League, President's Cup, Qatar–UAE Challenge Shield and Emaar Super Cup trophies residing at Rashid Stadium. Yet there is a sense of immense potential being left unfulfilled. UAE wide men Yahya Al-Ghassani and unused substitute Harib Abdalla could certainly use some more game time, while fellow international Sultan Adil may further freshen up their attack after a lengthy absence. A monstrous 11-point league gap — albeit with second-placed Sharjah holding a game in hand — gives opportunity for experimentation. A final worthy of the fanfare Pre-match ceremonies often feel like duds after kick-off. This engrossing final, however, most certainly was not. Early entertainment sparked by traditional dancers allied with booming pyrotechnics before kick-off reached its high point upon the novel sight of sponsors ADIB's ATM dispensing the match ball. Nobody watching felt short-changed about what followed. Styles make fights and Jazira's counter-punching approach took the shine off glittering Shabab Al-Ahli. Urged on by a strong crowd in Al-Ain, this was a chance for UAE football to show off. It surely did.
The National
20-03-2025
- Sport
- The National
Brazilians, Africans and an Englishman - the changing face of UAE team ahead of crucial World Cup qualifiers
Having been an international football manager for seven years now, Paulo Bento is surely used to the rhythms of the job. Still, it must have its frustrations. A couple of weeks of intense work, followed by months of fallow time, when he has merely a watching brief. Contact with his players might be limited to the odd WhatsApp message here and there, while they are the responsibility of their club coaches, instead. Over the course of stints with South Korea and, since 2023, the UAE, there have likely been few times when he would have wanted to keep hold of his players more than last November. It was then that the Portuguese coach's UAE side delivered on their promise in spectacular fashion, with a pair of results that breathed life into their 2026 World Cup qualifying hopes. Until that point, the campaign had been fitful. A nice surprise on opening night in the third round of Asia's byzantine qualifying process, as they won in Qatar. A narrow loss to Iran a few days later, then dropped points against North Korea and a loss – despite a plucky performance – in Uzbekistan. Their hopes of making one of the two automatic qualifying berths in the group theirs seemed to be fading. Then they muddled their way through to beat Kyrgyzstan, then thrashed double Asian champions Qatar 5-0, in one of the great nights for UAE football. Optimism was soaring. Goodwill was such that, when four-goal hero Fabio De Lima was spotted at a McDonald's drive-thru late that night, supporters were queuing up to pay for his order. It was a very, very Happy Meal, presumably. Then everyone went their separate ways, gathering again together only for a tepid reunion in the Gulf Cup in December, when they failed to get out of the group. All the positivity risked being dissolved. Four months after that trouncing of Qatar, they are back on the World Cup qualification trail. They face group leaders Iran, in Tehran, on Thursday evening, then travel to Riyadh to face North Korea on Tuesday. Sitting in third place, they are attempting to make up the three-point gap on second-placed Uzbekistan. The national team flew to Tehran on Wednesday morning, with one training session at the Azadi Sports Complex planned for that same evening. Ahead of that, Bento has tried to get back some of the feelings from November during a training camp in Jebel Ali in Dubai. He will also have had to introduce some of the players to each other, given a number of new arrivals in the team. There are a variety of new faces in the squad. It is a sign of the evolving face of the national team that 40 per cent of the 27-man squad for the two qualifiers were born abroad. Eight of those are Brazilians who have been outstanding performers in the Adnoc Pro League for several seasons now, and have become naturalised citizens. One of the new recruits, Caio Lucas, is on a grand tour all on his own. The forward was born in Brazil, then later educated in Japan, which is where he made his debut in professional football. He had a brief stint with Portuguese giants Benfica, between spells with two of the UAE's biggest clubs, Al Ain and Sharjah, and attained UAE citizenship last year. He is joined in the squad by his colleague in the Sharjah forward line, Luanzinho, who once played representative football for Brazil at age-group level. A third attacker of Brazilian origin, Al Wasl winger Jonatas Santos, is also in line for a debut. The trio will give Bento the sort of variety of attacking options which have been thin on the ground in the past. The UAE are not the only side who have become increasingly resourceful in expanding their player pool to include players like the Brazilians, as well as England-born Mackenzie Hunt, who spent his formative years in Dubai. It has become a growing trend among countries trying to make it into the newly expanded 48-team World Cup. Elsewhere in Asian qualifying, for example, an Indonesia side now managed by former Netherlands international Patrick Kluivert, have 18 out of 29 players in their squad who were born in Europe. Overseas experience is something Iran are not short of, albeit all of their players were raised at home, and their professional careers earned them moves abroad. A number of their leading players have experience of playing in foreign leagues, including two key players who will be known only too well to the UAE players. Mehdi Ghayedi, Team Melli's playmaker, scored the goal that separated the two sides when they met in Al Ain at the start of this group stage. He plays his clubs football for Ittihad Kalba on the UAE's east coast. And Sardar Azmoun has been blazing a trail in UAE football this season. The Iran striker's goals have helped Shabab Al Ahli to the top of the Pro League. Only three of the 27 players in the UAE's extended squad are from Azmoun's club, but Bento should have some decent intel on how to stop the prolific former Roma and Bayer Leverkusen forward. Shabab Al Ahli's rise in the UAE league has been overseen by Paulo Sousa, who is a compatriot and former Portugal teammate of Bento's. Thwarting the UAE-based duo will be vital to the national team's prospects in Iran. Victory will be a tough task, given the table toppers are unbeaten so far in the group, but the UAE will believe it is possible if they can channel the spirit of last November.
Gulf Today
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Epic semi-finals loom as ADIB Cup set for thrilling showdown
The stage is set for an electrifying showdown in the ADIB Cup, with the four best teams in the competition preparing to clash for a spot in the final. Al Wasl will host Al Jazira at the iconic Zabeel Ground, while Shabab Al Ahli gear up for a short but intense journey to Sharjah, all for the coveted semi-final spots on March 17 and 18. The anticipation is building as these two high-stakes encounters kick off at 10pm next week, promising an exciting spectacle for fans. With at least three of the four semi-finalists currently sitting among the top four teams in the Adnoc Pro League standings after 17 rounds, these matches are set to be full of drama, intensity, and fierce competition. Each of these teams has already proven their strength throughout the season, making this a thrilling and unpredictable set of fixtures. The first leg of the semi-finals will take place next week, but the action doesn't stop there. The second leg is scheduled for March 22-23, where the final battle for the ADIB Cup will reach its climax.
