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The Qatar Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد القطري لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Qaṭariyy li-Kurat al-Qadam) is the governing body of
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
in
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
.


President

Sheikh
Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al-Thani Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani is a Qatari football administrator, coach, member in the FIFA Council and AFC Professional Football Committee. He is the president of the Qatar Football Association (QFA). Education and career Al-Tha ...
is currently the president of the Association.


History

The advent of football at Qatar dates back to the year of 1948, accompanied by the arrival of oil companies. The new game's popularity expanded immediately, which led to the establishment of Al Najah as the country's first football club in 1950. Interest in football developed rapidly in the 1950s. Under the supervision of ''Qatar Oil Company'' (today
QatarEnergy QatarEnergy ( ar, قطر للطاقة), formerly Qatar Petroleum (QP), is a state owned petroleum company of Qatar. The company operates all oil and gas activities in Qatar, including exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage. The ...
), the first football tournament ever in Qatar was held at the city of
Dukhan Dukhan ( ar, دخان) is a city in the western municipality of Al-Shahaniya in the State of Qatar. It is approximately west of the capital, Doha. Dukhan is administrated by Qatar's state oil agency QatarEnergy and is the site of the first oil ...
. Despite the participation of several
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
teams – including Al Najah – host team Dukhan managed to win the 1951 Izzadeen tournament. Qatar Oil Company replaced the old competition with a new one, Pukett Cup kicked off during the 1957 season, Al Najah went on to win the cup for the first time in their history. The Qatar Football Association (QFA) was founded in 1960 to govern football in Qatar and became a member of
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
in 1963. In 1967, it became a member of the
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
(AFC). The Association organized the first Qatar League in 1972–73. Whether locally or regionally, rules and regulations were not very restrictive about players moving from one club to another, just a resignation letter and 10 Indian rupees were required of the player who wished to move. This undemanding system was in effect until the year 1962. The first venue with a grass pitch in the Gulf region was the Doha Stadium, which was inaugurated in 1962. Qatar built the
Khalifa International Stadium Khalifa International Stadium (, , ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Al Rayyan, Qatar, around west from the centre of Doha. Its ground comprises a running track and a grass pitch. Opened in 1976, the stadium was named after then-Emir ...
in the 1970s to serve as the country's iconic sports stadium. From 2003 to 2017, the stadium was refurbished and expanded. The Emir Cup final was held there in 2017. In 2022 it will host
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
matches. In 1981, Qatar's national youth team took part in the FIFA Junior World Cup in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, surprisingly beating Brazil 4–3 in the quarterfinals and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
2–1 in the semifinals. The final was lost 0–4 against
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. Qatar's football team participated in the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. In 1988 and 2011, Qatar hosted the
AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...
, which is the biggest football event on the continent. Qatar hosted the Gulf Cup tournament in
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
,
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
and
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
, winning the biggest tournament for national teams in the region in 1992 and 2004. In 2014, Qatar lifted the trophy for the third time after beating host
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
in the final. From 13–28 April 1995, the 10th FIFA World Youth Championship was held in
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, which was won by
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. In 2019 and 2020, Qatar hosted the
FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
. From 30 November to 18 December 2021, Qatar hosted the
2021 FIFA Arab Cup The 2021 FIFA Arab Cup () was the 10th edition of the Arab Cup, the Arab world's national team football tournament; it was the first edition under FIFA's jurisdiction. It took place between 30 November and 18 December in Qatar, as a p ...
. Sixteen Arab teams competed in stadiums of the
2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
. Qatar also hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The tournament is being held from 20 November to 18 December 2022. The
2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...
will be held in Qatar.


Leagues


Qatar Stars League (Also known as QNB Stars League)

*The QSL is the highest football league in Qatar and consists of 12 teams.


Qatar Second Division (Also known as Qatargas League)

*The QSD is the second highest football league in Qatar and consists of 8 teams.


Qatar Amateur League

*The QAL was established in 2013 to provide amateur teams with the opportunity to compete against each other in an official competition. The number of participating team varies every year.


University League

*The University League is a knockout tournament which was established in 2013 by the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy. This gives university and college students the opportunity to develop their football skills.


School League

*The School League is a knockout tournament which was also established in 2013, with the aim to promote young people's interest in sports.


Asian Communities Football Tournament

*The league was established in 2012 to promote integration and involve the local community. It is played in a knockout system.


Qatar Community Football League

*The community league organized by QSL, with four adult divisions, two leagues for boys and two leagues for girls, was established by the supreme committee in 2016.


Qatar Futsal League

*The
Qatar Futsal League The Qatar Futsal League, is the top league for Futsal in Qatar. The league champions automatically qualify for the AFC Futsal Club Championship. History The league was founded in 2007. Qatar Futsal League Member Clubs *Table as of 2011-12 Seas ...
was founded in 2007 and consists of 10 teams. The winner of the league automatically qualifies for the AFC Futsal Club Championship.


Domestic competitions


Cups

*
Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup ( ar, كأس أمير قطر), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by 18 first and second division teams. The most successful is Al Sad ...
- The Emir Cup was founded in 1972 and is the biggest Tournament in Qatar. *
Sheikh Jassim Cup The Sheikh Jassim Cup ( ar, كأس الشيخ جاسم) is an annual men's super cup competition in Qatari football held between the winner of the Qatar Stars League and the Emir of Qatar Cup. History The inaugural Sheikh Jassim Cup was held i ...
- The Sheikh Jassim Cup was founded in 1977 and takes place every year at the beginning of the season. *
Qatar Cup The Qatar Cup is a tournament in men's football. It is played by the top 4 teams of the Qatar Stars League after each season. In 2013, the tournament was renamed Qatar Cup. Previous winners Top-Performing Clubs References External links ...
- The Qatar Cup was founded in 1994 and is played by the top four QSL teams at the end of each season. *
Qatari Stars Cup The Qatari Stars Cup is a Qatari football competition played during the Qatar Stars League season known as Ooredoo Cup due to sponsorship reasons. The knockout competition, which involves a round-robin league structure, was first started in 2009 ...
- The Ooredoo Cup was founded in 2009. The premier league teams play in a knockout competition. Teams are divided into two groups and are allowed to field both U19 and U23 players. *
Qatar FA Cup The tournament was announced right after the 2020-21 Qatar Stars League ended, were the bottom 8 teams from the Qatar Stars League and the entire Qatari Second Division participate. History * 2021 : Al Sailiya 1-0 Al Markhiya * 2022 File:2 ...
- The tournament was announced right after the 2020-21 Qatar Stars League ended, were the bottom 8 teams from the Qatar Stars League and the entire Qatari Second Division participate.


Defunct competitions

Reserve League (Qatar)


National teams

*
Qatar national football team The Qatar national football team ( ar, منتخب قطر لكرة القدم) represents Qatar in international football, and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association and AFC. The team has appeared in ten Asian Cup tournaments and w ...
* Qatar national under-23 football team *
Qatar national under-20 football team The Qatar national under-20 football team is the national youth team of Qatar and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association. Qatar's U-20 national team played an important role in the development of football in Qatar and gave it one its firs ...
*
Qatar national under-17 football team The Qatar national under-17 football team is the national U-17 team of Qatar and is controlled by the Qatar Football Association. History Despite being a country with a small base of footballers; Qatar has a respectable amount of achievements at ...
* Qatar women's national football team


Training camps and academy

Aspire Zone Aspire Zone, also known as Doha Sports City, is a sporting complex located in the Baaya district of Al Rayyan, a suburb of Doha, Qatar. Owned by the Aspire Zone Foundation, it was established as an international sports destination in 2003 and ...
- The Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar, is a popular training camp for European football clubs, where teams such as
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
,
PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...
,
FC Red Bull Salzburg FC Red Bull Salzburg is an Austrian professional football club based in Wals-Siezenheim, that competes in the Austrian Bundesliga, the top flight of Austrian Football. Their home ground is the Red Bull Arena. Due to sponsorship restrictions, ...
,
AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...
and
FC Zenit Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...
prepare for the upcoming matches in their leagues.
Aspire Academy Aspire Academy ( ar, أكاديمية أسباير, Akādīmiyat 'Asbāyr) is a sports academy based in the Aspire Zone in Qatar, founded in 2004 with the goal to scout and help develop Qatari athletes, whilst also providing them with secondary ...
- Located in the Aspire Zone, the sports academy was founded in 2004 and supports Qatari athletes. Training grounds for the
2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...
- As 41 training grounds are created, each national team will have its own facility with FIFA-standard lightning systems and two natural grass pitches identical to the grass pitches at each of the eight World Cup stadiums.


Formation


Controversies

The Qatari national team was known to field
naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
players from foreign nations. Examples include
Sebastián Soria Andrés Sebastián Soria Quintana (; ar, أندريس سيبستيان سوريا كوينتانا; born 8 November 1983) commonly known as Sebastián Soria, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar SC. Born in Uruguay, h ...
and
Luiz Martin Carlos Júnior Luiz is a Portuguese given name that is an alternative form of Luís. It's archaic in Portugal, but common in Brazil. Notable people referred to by this name include the following: People *Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), Brazilian guitarist and composer ...
. In 2004, the Qatar FA offered incentives to the uncapped Brazilian trio of Aílton, Dedé and Leandro to switch allegiance to the Gulf state.
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
intervened and blocked the moves, tightening international eligibility requirements in the process. Mohammed bin Hammam, Chairman of the Qatar Football Association from February 1992 to 1996, has also been involved in a string of controversies. On 23 July 2011, the
FIFA Ethics Committee The FIFA Ethics Committee is one of FIFA's three judicial bodies. It is organized in two chambers, the ''Investigatory Chamber'' and the ''Adjudicatory Chamber''. Its duties are regulated by several official documents, most importantly the ''FIF ...
banned Bin Hammam for life from all
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and football related activities after being found guilty of
bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...
. Although the ban was annulled a year later, Bin Hamman was given a second ban in December 2012 for “conflicts of interest” that arose while he was president of the
Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
. In December 2014, the Qatar Football Association was criticized for hiring migrant workers to fill their empty stadiums in the
Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...
, paying them one dollar an hour. The spread of paid fans was cited as a “significant reason” for low attendance rates among Qatari residents. According to a recent survey, only one third of the 1,079 Qatar residents surveyed had attended a football match during the previous season. The results of the survey, published by Qatar's Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics cast doubts on claims that everything in Qatar “revolves around sport.” On 6 September 2016, FIFA Ethics Committee's adjudicatory chamber opened proceedings against Qatar Football Association's Vice-president Saoud Al-Mohannadi. Al-Mohannadi was banned from running in elections for a seat in the
FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. ...
later that month. On 16 November 2016, FIFA Ethics Committee banned Al Mohannadi for one year and fined him 20,000 Swiss Francs because he "did not co-operate with the investigatory chamber in the proceedings against a third party".


International titles

*
1990 AFC U-16 Championship The 1990 AFC U-16 Championship, was the fourth iteration of the AFC U-16 Championship, a tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and held every two years for Asian under-16 teams. United Arab Emirates was the host nation. T ...
: Winner *1992 11th Arabian Gulf Cup: Winner *2006
Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
: Winner *
2014 WAFF Championship The 2013 West Asian Football Federation Championship (marketed as Qatar 2013) was the 8th WAFF Championship, an international tournament for member nations of the West Asian Football Federation. The tournament was hosted by Qatar from 25 December ...
: Winner *
2014 AFC U-19 Championship The 2014 AFC U-19 Championship was the 38th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for players aged 19 and below. Myanmar were approved as hosts of the competition on 25 ...
: Winner *
2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...
: Winner


See also

* Football in Qatar


References


External links


Qatar Football Association
at the FIFA website.

at AFC site
Official website
Arabic/English {{UAFA Football Football in Qatar 1960 establishments in Qatar
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
Sports organizations established in 1960