Qatar Football Association

Qatar Football Association

founding	1960
FIFA accession	1970
AFC accession	1972
president	Hamad bin Chalifa Al Thani
Secretary General	Saoud Abdulaziz Al-Mohanadi
National teams	Qatari national football team
Clubs (approx.)	16
Homepage	official homepage

The Qatar Football Association ( Arabic الاتحاد القطري لكرة القدم, DMG al-ittiḥād al-qaṭarī li-kurat al-qadam ) is the football association in Qatar . It was founded in 1960 and has been active in its current position since 1970. She joined the AFC in 1972 and FIFA in 1970 .

history

In 1946, with the arrival of oil companies, an initial interest in football emerged. The sport's popularity grew rapidly, with the country's first football club, Al Najah , founded in 1950 . The Athletic Union , Qatar's first sports association, was soon established . However, the association only existed for a few months because there were repeated problems with the scheduling of games. In contrast to today, the organization lacked competence and experience. So games were only arranged through verbal contracts or simple letters. In addition, it was convention that a trophy was presented by the team that asked to host the game.

Izzadeen tournament

Under the supervision of Qatar Petroleum , the first ever football competition (the Izzade tournament) was organized in Qatar in 1951 and was played in the city of Dukhan. Although several teams from the capital Doha participated in the tournament, including Al Najah, the team from the host city of Dukhan won.

Pukett Cup

For the 1957 season, Qatar Petroleum replaced the old competition with the Pukett Cup, with Al Najah winning the first edition in 1957.

Transfer market

At both local and regional level, the rules were not as strict as they are today. It was enough for a player who wanted to change clubs to write a resignation and pay 10 Indian rupees . This unprofessional system was in place until 1962.

Foreign players

Between the 1950s and the 1970s there were numerous foreign players, mainly from Sudan , Egypt , Somalia , Iran and Syria . They were largely responsible for making football better known locally as well, and they enriched Qatari football. No contracts were signed with the foreign players, they were employed by state or private companies.

Association history

The Qatar Football Association was founded in its current role in 1970 to administer football in Qatar and joined FIFA that same year . In 1972/73 the Qatar Football Association hosted the first Qatar Stars League .

From 1992 to 1996 the entrepreneur and international football official Mohamed bin Hammam was the association's president.