Athletes confirmed that the teams of the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were negatively affected in the current Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup finals, by technical decisions that served the clubs and local competitions at the expense of the national teams.
They pointed out that the increase in the number of foreign players in local competitions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar contributed to the strength and popularity of the competitions across the Asian continent, but at the same time it harmed the three teams, especially since these teams depend on local players and do not have professionals abroad.
They told “Emirates Today”: “The results of the three teams in the World Cup qualifiers confirm that they were affected by the large number of foreign players in local competitions at the expense of the citizen player, as these teams began to use some of the players sitting on the bench, due to the clubs’ reliance on the foreign player.”
They added: “The three teams, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, clearly suffer from technical instability, frequent changes of coaches, and the lack of a clear long-term vision that helps achieve the results that were desired and lead them to the World Cup.”
The three teams (the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar) were not able to top their groups or be in the first and second places that qualified for the World Cup directly, as the Emirati and Qatari teams are in third and fourth place in the first group behind the Iranian and Uzbekistan teams, while the Saudi team is in third place behind the Japanese teams. The Australian is in the third group.
On the other hand, other Arab teams, such as Iraq and Jordan, benefited from the participation of their players mainly in local competitions, and this was reflected positively in their results in the qualifiers, as the two teams compete for second place that qualifies directly for the World Cup in the second group behind the leading South Korean team.
Lack of homogeneity
The director of the Shabab Al-Ahly Club Academy, Antar Marzouk, stressed that the teams of the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were greatly affected by the large increase in the number of foreign players on the clubs’ rosters.
He said: “This increase directly affected the three teams, specifically (white) and (green), and I want to dwell a lot on the Emirati team, by drawing a comparison between the period of former national coach Mahdi Ali and the current Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, and the big difference between them in terms of “Preparing the national team before the official matches.”
He added: “During the period of Mehdi Ali, there were larger gatherings for the national team and they played many friendly matches, in contrast to the current coach Paulo Pinto, who insists on the national team gathering before the World Cup qualifiers, and this is a big mistake that caused the confusing start in terms of results.”
He pointed out: “It is unthinkable that the majority of the current national team players are substitutes in their clubs, and they are assembled only five days before the matches, and this has greatly affected the fluctuation in level and results, and the Football Association should have intervened to convince the coach that this policy will not serve the national team’s plans.” “It will advance it directly to the World Cup qualifiers.”
Antar Marzouk continued by saying: “You feel that there is a state of disharmony among the national team players due to the lack of national team gatherings, and it would have been better to compensate for this by creating more spaces for the national team, even if this matter was against the desire of the clubs.”
Beneficiary clubs
Football analyst, Ahmed Khalifa Hammad, confirmed that the regulations and amendments introduced in recent years to the system of local competitions in some Gulf countries, specifically in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, had a negative impact on the level of the three teams in the current World Cup qualifiers.
He said: “It is true that the participation of foreigners increased in the UAE and Saudi leagues, but the reality is that Coach Pinto did not benefit from the professional league in the optimal way. There are players who stood out in the past rounds, and despite that they were ignored in an incomprehensible manner by the sports street, specifically by excluding Ali Mabkhout and Bandar Al-Ahbabi.” And Shaheen Abdul Rahman, and these players are elements of experience in Emirati football, and they provide stable levels with their clubs, and we do not know the reasons for their lack of permanent presence in the national team’s matches.”
He added: “The sports street has the right to know why some players are selected and others are excluded. Today, awareness has increased among fans, and they have the right to know the policy that is being followed with the national team, with full recognition that the fans are required to stand behind the team in all circumstances.”
He continued: “Unfortunately, it was the clubs that benefited from the new regulations and amendments, while the Gulf teams were affected in a frightening way. The Saudi national team is suffering in many positions, especially in the attacking line, due to the clubs’ interest in contracting strikers with prominent names, and the same is true for us, and the players who were… Naturalizing them in the Emirates cannot benefit from all of them due to the conditions imposed by the International Federation on this type of players and the legality of their participation with the national teams.
An assortment of substitutes
Salim Al Shamsi: We do not have professionals abroad who can have a direct impact on the level and results.
The former Chairman of the Player Affairs Committee at the Football Association, Dr. Salim Al Shamsi, confirmed that there were several matters that caused the Gulf teams, specifically the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to decline in the World Cup qualifiers.
He said: “The foreign player took on a bigger role than the national player, and the majority of those teams’ squads were made up of players who do not participate in local competitions and sit on the bench. This greatly harmed the levels of the three teams, at a time when we do not have professional players abroad who can have an impact.” Direct in level and results,” he added: “The UAE and Saudi Arabia national teams have many commonalities, including the increase in the number of foreign players in local leagues, and they live in a state of technical instability, with frequent changes of coaches with every failure.”
He explained: “We cannot wait for the development of (Al-Abyad), in light of the multiple changes and the bringing in of coaches from different schools. In the last five years we brought in coaches from Italy, Argentina, the Netherlands, Serbia and Portugal, and there is no team in the world that has used this many coaches, so the results are not coming.” Except for technical stability for at least four years.”
He continued: “Achieving the World Cup does not come by chance, but rather by long-term planning, and this is what Emirati football clearly lacks, so we must learn from the lesson well and plan for the national team in a scientific and thoughtful manner, just as we planned well for local competitions.”
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