West Asian Football Federation
The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF; Arabic: إتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم, romanized: Ittiḥād Gharb Āsiyā li-Kurat al-Qadam), founded in 2001, is a regional sub-confederation of football, governed under the Asian Football Confederation, for nations in West Asia. The WAFF consists of 12 member associations.
Formation | 15 May 2001[1] |
---|---|
Type | Sports organization |
Headquarters | Amman, Jordan |
Membership | 12 member associations |
President | Prince Ali bin Al Hussein |
Website | the-waff.com (in English) |
WAFF organizes the WAFF Championship. Some nations from outside the region are occasionally invited to participate in the competition, such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 2000 and Thailand in 2023. The Secretary General is the Khalil Al Salem from Jordan.
History
The founding members of the West Asian Football Federation are Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. In 2009, three more associations joined the federation: Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Four other nations of West Asia: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia joined in 2010.[2] Iran left the federation on 10 June 2014, with the creation of the Central Asian Football Federation.
Member associations
Association | Joining year | National team | Top Tiers League (Men's) |
---|---|---|---|
Bahrain | 2010 | Bahraini Premier League | |
Iraq | 2001 (Founding member) | Iraq Premier League | |
Jordan | 2001 (Founding member) | Jordanian Pro League | |
Kuwait | 2010 | Kuwait Premier League | |
Lebanon | 2001 (Founding member) | Lebanese Premier League | |
Oman | 2010 | Oman Professional League | |
Palestine | 2001 (Founding member) | Palestine Premier League | |
Qatar | 2009 | Qatar Stars League | |
Saudi Arabia | 2010 | Saudi Pro League | |
Syria | 2001 (Founding member) | Syrian Premier League | |
United Arab Emirates | 2009 | UAE Pro League | |
Yemen | 2009 | Yemeni League | |
Former member | |||
Iran | 2001–2014 (Founding member) | Persian Gulf Pro League |
Competitions
Current title holders
Tournament | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition[3] | Dates | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National teams | ||||||||
WAFF Championship | 2019 (Final) | Bahrain | 1st | Iraq | 2023 (Final) | 20 March – 2 April 2023 | ||
WAFF U-23 Championship | 2023 | Iraq | 1st | Iran | TBD | |||
U-18 Championship | 2021 | Iraq | 2nd | Lebanon | TBD | |||
U-16 Championship | 2022 | Jordan | 1st | Lebanon | 2023 | Decenmber | ||
Futsal Championship | 2022 | Kuwait | 1st | Saudi Arabia | TBD | |||
Beach Soccer Championship | 2022 | United Arab Emirates | 1st | Oman | TBD | |||
National teams (women) | ||||||||
WAFF Women's Championship | 2022 | Jordan | 5th | Lebanon | TBD | |||
U-18 Girls' Championship | 2022 | Lebanon | 2nd | Syria | 2024 | TBD | ||
U-15 Girls' Championship | 2023 | Lebanon | 2nd | Jordan | 2023 | 7 - 15 November | ||
U-14 Girls' Championship | 2022 | Jordan | 1st | Lebanon | TBD | |||
Futsal Women's Championship | 2022 | Iraq | 1st | Saudi Arabia | TBD | |||
Club teams (women) | ||||||||
Women's Clubs Championship | 2022 | Safa | 1st | Orthodox Club | 2023 |
Titles by nation
After 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship.
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Iran (IRI) | 12 | 6 | 1 | 19 |
2 | Jordan (JOR) | 11 | 12 | 11 | 34 |
3 | Iraq (IRQ) | 8 | 3 | 9 | 20 |
4 | Lebanon (LBN) | 5 | 8 | 3 | 16 |
5 | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
6 | Syria (SYR) | 2 | 6 | 11 | 19 |
7 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
8 | Kuwait (KUW) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
9 | Bahrain (BHR) | 1 | 2 | 8 | 11 |
10 | Qatar (QAT) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
11 | Yemen (YEM) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
12 | Japan (JPN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
13 | Oman (OMA) | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
14 | Palestine (PLE) | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
15 | India (IND) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Totals (15 entries) | 49 | 49 | 59 | 157 |
FIFA World Rankings
Men's national football team
WAFF Men's National Football Team Ranking by FIFA
Update: 23 June 2022
|
Leading Men's team:
|
Women's national football team
WAFF Women's National Football Team Ranking by FIFA
Update: 24 March 2023
** Inactive for more than 18 months and therefore not ranked |
Leading Women's team:
|
Men's national futsal team
WAFF Men's National Futsal Team Ranking by Futsal World Ranking
Update: June 2022
WAFF | AFC | FIFA | Country | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | 41 | Kuwait | 1073 |
2 | 10 | 45 | Iraq | 1033 |
3 | 11 | 46 | Lebanon | 1032 |
4 | 14 | 67 | Bahrain | 897 |
5 | 17 | 77 | Saudi Arabia | 855 |
6 | 20 | 88 | Qatar | 807 |
7 | 22 | 90 | Oman | 783 |
8 | 24 | 98 | United Arab Emirates | 697 |
9 | 25 | 102 | Palestine | 680 |
* | * | * | Jordan | 877* |
* | * | * | Syria | 651* |
* | * | * | Yemen | 578* |
- Note: (*) Inactive
Women's national futsal team
WAFF Women's National Futsal Team Ranking by The Roon Ba
Update: December 2022
WAFF | AFC | World | Country | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 26 | Jordan | 5280 |
2 | 11 | 43 | Syria | 5036 |
3 | 15 | 49 | Lebanon | 4913 |
4 | 16 | 51 | Bahrain | 4854 |
5 | 19 | 57 | Iraq | 4716 |
6 | 20 | 63 | Palestine | 4505 |
7 | 23 | 69 | Saudi Arabia | 4311 |
8 | 24 | 71 | United Arab Emirates | 4264 |
9 | 25 | 72 | Kuwait | 4191 |
10 | 31 | 80 | Oman | 3443 |
11 | 33 | 81 | Qatar | 3384 |
- Note: (*) Inactive
Men's national beach soccer team
AFF Men's National Beach Soccer Team Ranking by BSWW
Update: December 2021
WAFF | Country | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | United Arab Emirates | 776 |
2 | Oman | 500 |
3 | Palestine | 118 |
4 | Lebanon | 100 |
5 | Bahrain | 60 |
6 | Kuwait | 49 |
7 | Iraq | 41 |
8 | Syria | 37 |
9 | Qatar | 31 |
10 | Saudi Arabia | 30 |
Controversy
On 29 January 2015, after the defeat of Iraq and the United Arab Emirates during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, West Asian Football Federation members reportedly sought to remove Australia from the AFC primarily due to "Australia benefiting hugely from Asian involvement without giving much in return".[4]
See also
- Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)
- East Asian Football Federation (EAFF)
- Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)
- South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)
- Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF)
- ECO Cup
References
- "Chapter 1". Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
- "WAFF Articles and Definitions". The-waff.com. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
- "Championships". www.the-waff.com. West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- "Angry Gulf nations leading charge to kick Australia out of Asian Football Confederation". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
External links
- Official website (in English)
- Official website (in Arabic)