Oman Football Association

Oman Football Association

AFC
Founded	1978
FIFA affiliation	1980
AFC affiliation	1979
President	Sayyid Khalid Hamad Al-Busaidi

The Oman Football Association (Arabic: الاتحاد العُماني لكرة القدم‎) is the governing body of football in Oman. It was founded in 1978, has been a member of the Asian Football Confederation since 1979 and of FIFA since 1980. Oman Football Association is a relatively young member of the football fraternity. They were founded in 1978 and the following year, joined AFC before making the FIFA family in 1980.

Overview

Oman plays against Japan in the qualifying rounds for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Despite being a young association, their achievement at the youth level is impeccable. In the 1996 and 2000 AFC U-17 Championship, they became champions of Asia and representing Asia in the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Ecuador, they managed a record high fourth place finish. Also in the same tournament Mohamed Al Kathiri was awarded most valuable player and was given the golden ball, scoring most individual goals.

At the senior level, success has been far and few. However, lately they seemed to have announced their arrival at the senior events. They reached the Asian Cup, China 2004 final rounds and did well against Asian champions Japan. Later in 2007 they reached the Asian Cup once again, but just went to the group stages. In the Gulf Cup, they reached the final twice, only to lose to Qatar and later, UAE; before winning it as hosts in 2009.

Players such as Imad Ali Al-Hosni have been impressive and are looked at as the future of Omani football. In addition, Oman is looking to take advantage of FIFA's assistance in the GOAL project to further develop the game in Oman. Also Goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi is leading the path of Omani football to Europe, being the first Omani to play in the Premier League. Along with Al-Habsi, Khalifa Ayil has sparked interest from Arsène Wenger of Arsenal.

Oman has a total of 45 clubs divided into three divisions. The First Division has 12 clubs, Second Division has 13 clubs while the Third Division has 20 clubs.

Individual awards

Year	Player	Award
1995	Mohamed Al Kathiri	1995 Asian Young Footballer of the Year
1995	Mohamed Al Kathiri	Golden Ball of 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship
2002	Hani Al Dhabit	Golden Shoe of the 15th Gulf Cup
2003	Ali Al-Habsi	Best Goalkeeper of the 16th Gulf Cup
2004	Imad Al-Hosni	Golden Shoe of the 17th Gulf Cup
2004	Ali Al-Habsi	Best Goalkeeper of the 17th Gulf Cup
2007	Ali Al-Habsi	Best Goalkeeper of the 18th Gulf Cup
2009	Ali Al-Habsi	Best Goalkeeper of the 19th Gulf Cup

Team awards and achievements

Year	Team	Award	Competition
1989	Fanja	Won first place trophy	Gulf Clubs Championship 1989
1994	Oman F.C.	Won second place trophy	Asian Club Championship 1993-94
1994	Oman U-17 Team	Won third place trophy	AFC U-17 Championship 1994
1995	Oman U-17 Team	Reached fourth place in tournament	1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship
1996	Oman U-17 Team	Won first place trophy	AFC U-17 Championship 1996
2000	Oman U-17 Team	Won first place trophy	AFC U-17 Championship 2000
2004	Oman National Team	Won second place trophy	17th Gulf Cup of Nations
2007	Oman National Team	Won second place trophy	18th Gulf Cup of Nations
2009	Oman National Team	Won the Gulf Cup	19th Gulf Cup of Nations

Omani League teams 10-11

Al-Ahli (Sedab)

Al-Hilal (Salalah)

Al-Nahda

Al-Nasr

Al-Oruba

Al-Shabab

Al-Suwaiq

Al-Talia

Dhofar

Muscat

Oman FC

Saham

External links

• Oman Football Association at the FIFA website.
• Oman Football Association at AFC site
• Oman Football Association Official website