Latest news with #UAEFA
Zawya
24-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
McDonald's UAE announces partnership with UAEFA
Set to kick off at the highly anticipated prestigious event, 2025 President's Cup Final on May 9, McDonald's UAE will be the official partner for the event as Sharjah's faces off against Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai, United Arab Emirates – McDonald's UAE is proud to announce a new partnership with the UAE Football Association (UAEFA), which will debut with McDonald's UAE as one of the Official Partners of the prestigious 2025 President's Cup Final, taking place on May 9 at 7:30 PM at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, where Sharjah will face Shabab Al-Ahli. This marks the beginning of a broader partnership, with more exciting details to be announced soon. This step reinforces McDonald's UAE's ongoing commitment to supporting sports and community development across the country. Walid Fakih, McDonald's UAE CEO commented, 'At McDonald's UAE, we believe in the power of sports to unite communities and inspire future generations - from grassroots programs to major national events. We're honored to be one of the partners with UAEFA and look forward to sharing more about our broader collaboration in the near future, while celebrating this exciting moment with fans across the country.' Mohammed Abdullah Hazzam Al Dhaheri, General Secretary of the UAE Football Association: 'We are pleased to have McDonald's UAE as one of our partners for the President's Cup. This partnership comes as we prepare to organize the final of the most prestigious tournament, eagerly anticipated by football fans both locally and abroad.' He added, 'We value all our partnerships with institutions and deeply appreciate the support of each one. Such collaborations provide vital backing for Emirati football.' For more information on the 2025 President's Cup Final, please visit: About UAEFA: The UAE Football Association was established in 1971 and became a member of FIFA in 1972, and joined the Asian and Arab confederations in 1974. The UAEFA made great achievements since its foundation at the Gulf, continental and international levels. The senior football national team made one World Cup appearance, in 1990 in Italy, won the Gulf Cup in 2007 and the Gulf Cup in 2013. The youth national team claimed the AFC U-19 Cup in 2008. The U-20 national team qualified for the Youth World Championship in 1997 in Malaysia and 2009 in Egypt. They also took part in the 2003 Youth World Championship as UAE were the host country. The U-17 national team qualified for the 1991 World Cup in Italy 1991 and Nigeria 2009. The juniors' national team won the Gulf Cup in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2013, the youth and juniors national teams qualified for the AFC Asian Cups finals in 2010, Winning the 2nd Gulf U-23 championship in Doha 2010, in addition to the 7th Gulf Juniors Championship in Kuwait 2010 and claiming the 16th Asian Games silver medal in China for the first time in the history of the country. The Olympic national team made history by qualifying for the 2012 London Games and the women football national team claimed the West Asian Women Championship title twice in 2010 and 2011. About McDonald's UAE: Operating in the nation since 1994, McDonald's UAE caters to the local community across more than 200 restaurants, geographically located to service customers in many areas. McDonald's UAE is committed through its food trust promise, to maintaining the highest quality of products served at each restaurant, and across its McCafé offering. McDonald's UAE prides itself on being a local member of the community and has been committed to its role as a responsible corporate citizen since its arrival to the nation. Following an active social responsibility agenda, it is a long-standing partner of Emirates Red Crescent supporting its charitable and humanitarian further contribute to the wellbeing of the communities, creating wider environmental benefits, McDonald' s UAE and Emirates Environmental Group work in tandem to spread green values and bring to life sustainable initiatives, reducing the nation's carbon footprint. Driving this is the launch of its biodiesel initiative in July 2011, which sees 100% of McDonald's UAE's used cooking oil collected from restaurants and converted into 100% biodiesel, in turn powering the company's logistics fleet. As a result, the trucks have travelled over 23.6 million km on 100% Biodiesel since the partnership began, saving over 25 million kg CO2e emissions. For further information about McDonald's UAE please visit: or contact Weber Shandwick on McDonaldsuae@
Sport360
24-04-2025
- Business
- Sport360
McDonald's UAE announces partnership with UAE FA, commencing with President's Cup Final
McDonald's UAE is proud to announce a new partnership with the UAE Football Association (UAE FA), which will debut with McDonald's UAE as one of the Official Partners of the prestigious 2024/25 President's Cup Final, taking place on May 9 at 7:30pm at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, where Sharjah will face Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club. This marks the beginning of a broader partnership, with more exciting details to be announced soon. This step reinforces McDonald's UAE's ongoing commitment to supporting sports and community development across the country. Walid Fakih, McDonald's UAE CEO commented: 'At McDonald's UAE, we believe in the power of sports to unite communities and inspire future generations – from grassroots programs to major national events. We're honoured to be one of the partners with UAE FA and look forward to sharing more about our broader collaboration in the near future, while celebrating this exciting moment with fans across the country.' Mohammed Abdullah Hazzam Al Dhaheri, General Secretary of the UAE Football Association: 'We are pleased to have McDonald's UAE as one of our partners for the President's Cup. This partnership comes as we prepare to organise the final of the most prestigious tournament, eagerly anticipated by football fans both locally and abroad.' He added: 'We value all our partnerships with institutions and deeply appreciate the support of each one. Such collaborations provide vital backing for Emirati football.' For more information on the 2024/25 President's Cup Final, please visit:
Emirates 24/7
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Emirates 24/7
UAEFA contracts Romanian coach for two years
The UAE Football Association (UAEFA) has announced that Romanian coach Cosmin Olăroiu will take over the national team in the upcoming period. The association noted in its statement that the Romanian coach has signed a contract with the national team for a duration of two years, until 2027. The UAE national team is currently in third place in Group A of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with 13 points after Uzbekistan (17 points). Iran leads with 20 points. Olăroiu's primary task will be to lead the UAE's quest for a World Cup place, via two vital fixtures in the summer. The UAE national team will face Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in the final matches of the qualifiers on 5th and 10th June respectively. Olariou has emerged as the standout candidate after guiding Sharjah to the AFC Champions League Two final. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Al Etihad
19-04-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
UAEFA contracts Romanian coach for two years
19 Apr 2025 14:41 ABU DHABI (WAM)The UAE Football Association (UAEFA) has announced that Romanian coach Cosmin Olăroiu will take over the national team in the upcoming association noted in its statement that the Romanian coach has signed a contract with the national team for a duration of two years, until UAE national team is currently in third place in Group A of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with 13 points after Uzbekistan (17 points). Iran leads with 20 primary task will be to lead the UAE's quest for a World Cup place, via two vital fixtures in the UAE national team will face Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in the final matches of the qualifiers on 5th and 10th June respectively. Olariou has emerged as the standout candidate after guiding Sharjah to the AFC Champions League Two final.
Arab News
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Surprise Bento dismissal raises questions about rest of UAE World Cup qualifying campaign
DUBAI: It takes something special to top the drama of a 98th-minute winner which kept UAE dreams of automatic World Cup 2026 qualification alive. But fewer than eight hours after a bandaged Sultan Adil — in just his second appearance for club or country in 2024-25 — produced a brave diving header in Riyadh to salvage a 2-1 triumph against bottom-placed North Korea, a tweet announced the shock news that Paulo Bento's tenure had ended abruptly. 'The UAE Football Association has decided to dismiss the head coach of the national team, Portuguese Paulo Bento, and his technical staff,' said @uaefa_ae. Those few words, with no emotion and a strictly businesslike tone, ended a reign that only began in July 2023. The hard-fought victory at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium left the UAE third in the third round's Group A, four points away from a guaranteed return to football's grandest stage for the first time since 1990 with two fixtures left. Failure to overturn this deficit to second-placed Uzbekistan — their next opponents — in June's deciders means the team must successfully navigate up to three extra stages. The question posed by the UAE FA was: 'Is this enough?' Their answer — a definitive 'no.' Time will now tell whether this bold call, certainly not without merit, was a correct one. A clear decision has been made that the 55-year-old, who became South Korea's longest-serving manager and led Portugal to Euro 2012's semifinals, was not the man to achieve this goal. Instead, the ninth permanent appointment since Mahdi Ali's resignation in March 2017 will target this glory. Bento's tenure with the Whites featured 14 wins, six draws and six defeats. The nation has not been this close to its second World Cup appearance in several generations. He will be remembered for successive hammerings of perennial rivals Qatar and being at the helm for the naturalization revolution, where an array of long-serving ADNOC Pro League stars and UAE-born or raised foreign nationals were integrated into selection. Less-fond memories were created by a 2023 Asian Cup round-of-16 exit on penalties to tournament debutants Tajikistan, or this winter's winless group-stage exit at the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup. Performances that were often stodgy and staccato did not help, especially after the introduction of call-ups such as Sharjah forward Caio Lucas, club-mate Marcus Meloni, Fleetwood Town's Mackenzie Hunt and Al-Ain's AFC Champions League-winning center-back Kouame Autonne. This month exemplified the testy relationship forged between Bento and UAE football. The 2-0 defeat at Tehran's intimidating Azadi Stadium against heavyweights Iran was not terrible on paper; nor was a characterful late show to prevail against unknown and unfancied North Korea. Yet the loss to Iran contained a switch to a 5-4-1 formation unfamiliar to most players, in the wake of zero preparatory friendlies, with four-goal Qatar hero Fabio De Lima benched and little time on the training pitch due to a packed club fixture list. Only one effort on target was recorded during a contest elongated by floodlight troubles. A selection and tactical shake-up into the usual 4-2-3-1 against North Korea produced a frustrating display, in which 69 percent possession and an attempt count weighted 20-7 in the UAE's favor still bore many similarities to October's dreary 1-1 draw against the same opponent. These displays allied with the continued decision to neglect the national team's record scorer, Ali Mabkhout, and Al-Wasl 'Golden Boy' Ali Saleh. There is a void around what happens next, with pure conjecture defining this nascent state of play in which no outstanding successor has emerged. The vagaries of reviewing external candidates present a tricky but worthwhile task. New names could arise in the coming days and weeks. The move towards a supremo with domestic experience, reminiscent of the previous World Cup cycle when Rodolfo Arruabarrena replaced Bert van Marwijk, may produce several options. Can Cosmin Olaroiu, finally, be tempted? A campaign that could yet deliver AFC Champions League Two, President's Cup and ADNOC Pro League triumphs with Sharjah makes this pursuit complicated. Paulo Sousa gained brief international exposure with Poland and has been a revelation at a Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club, who will be loath to lose him. Milos Milojevic won the President's Cup and league double with Al-Wasl last term, ending a 17-year wait for local silverware. His second campaign, however, has been strained and at 42 years old he lacks international exposure, unlike Olaroiu at the 2015 Asian Cup with Saudi Arabia. Argentina great Hernan Crespo is unattached since November's dismissal from Asian conquerors Al-Ain. A trio of fellow former ADNOC Pro League tacticians seem otherwise engaged, in Kuwait's Juan Antonio Pizzi (Al-Wasl), Ukraine's Serhiy Rebrov (Al-Ain) and Greece's Ivan Jovanovic (Al-Nasr), whose UAE spell was scuppered by the pandemic. UAE FA leadership chose a dynamic course of action on Wednesday. There were no media leaks about their intentions at any stage; nor were any successors rumored. This blank slate must be filled in ample time prior to a June which could yet go down in history.
