The West Asian Football Federation ( WAFF ) 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.
19-972: The founding members of the West Asian Football Federation are Iran , Iraq , Jordan , Lebanon , Palestine and Syria . In 2009, three more associations, Qatar , United Arab Emirates and Yemen , joined the federation. Four other West Asian nations, Bahrain , Kuwait , Oman and Saudi Arabia , joined in 2010. Iran left the federation on 10 June 2014, with the creation of the Central Asian Football Association . After 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship . WAFF Men's National Football Team Ranking by FIFA Update: 23 June 2022 Leading Men's team: WAFF Women's National Football Team Ranking by FIFA Update: 24 March 2023 Leading Women's team: AFF Men's National Beach Soccer Team Ranking by BSWW Update: 8 April 2024 On 29 January 2015, after
38-579: A national football federation should remain autonomous from the national government. However, on 17 December 2006, the ban was lifted and a new Transitory Board was composed. During the 2009 Iranian election protests , seven members of the Iran national football team were initially reported to have been banned for life by the federation for wearing green armbands in support of the Iranian Green Movement . Iran women's national football team
57-416: A political symbol. "Britain is not the only country that has been suffering as a result of war", she said. "Syria is an example. My own African continent has been torn by war for years. The only question is 'why are we doing exceptions for just one country and not the rest of the world?'". UK Prime Minister Theresa May condemned FIFA for the decision. During her time as secretary general, Samoura oversaw
76-545: A qualifying match for the 2018 FIFA World Cup . When she heard that the position of secretary general of FIFA was coming up, she emailed Infantino, who appointed her as the first female secretary general of FIFA at the FIFA congress in Mexico City on 13 May 2016. She was to succeed the disgraced Jerome Valcke , who had been banned from activities relating to football for 12 years, and replaced acting Markus Kattner , who
95-600: A senior logistics officer, she served as Country Director for WFP in Djibouti (2000–2005 ) and Cameroon (2005–2007 ), and altogether worked in seven countries, the others being Chad, Guinea, Niger, Madagascar (United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, 2010–2016) and Nigeria (United Nations Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative, January–June 2016). On 1 November 2007, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon , in consultation with
114-491: Is a Senegalese former diplomat and senior executive. She was appointed as the first female secretary general of FIFA by president Gianni Infantino and assumed her post on 20 June 2016. Previously she worked in various positions at the United Nations , mostly of a humanitarian nature. In June 2023, she tendered her resignation as secretary general, which took effect on 31 December 2023. Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura
133-639: Is the governing body for football in Iran . It was founded in 1920. The federation has been a member of FIFA since 1948 and a member of the Asian Football Confederation since 1958. In 2001, Iran were founding members of the West Asian Football Federation , along with Iraq , Jordan , Lebanon , Palestine , and Syria . On 23 November 2006, the federation was suspended by FIFA, due to government interference in football matters. FIFA rules decree that
152-785: Is to make sure that we will root racism out of football ". In 2018, Forbes ranked her Number 1 in their Most Powerful Women in International Sports list, and the BBC listed her as one of their 100 women. When Samoura visited the AU Pavilion at the Expo 2020 in Dubai in 2021 with other FIFA Officials, the AU Expo Commissioner General, Levi Uche Madueke, said of Samoura, "She is a living testimony of
171-564: The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup , learning about the culture of Australian First Nations people in the Top End and attending a football clinic in Darwin, Northern Territory . She has invited 50 Indigenous children and their carers to attend a World Cup game in Brisbane with her. She has said that her "last battle, and one that she will continue to fight even after her retirement from FIFA,
190-688: The Institut d'Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées (IECS, aka Strasbourg Business School). Her home languages are Wolof and French , and she is also fluent in English , Spanish , and Italian . Samoura worked for eight years for a leading fertiliser company, occupying a position that had traditionally been taken by men. After joining the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) at their headquarters in Rome in 1995 as
209-780: The Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in the UEFA Europa League . On 9 November 2018 Fatma Samoura , Secretary General of International Federation of Football Association FIFA said she would ask Iranian government to end ban on women's entry to sport stadiums. On 7 August 2019, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri , prosecutor general of Iran, supporting the ban, said that it should not concern FIFA, if women in Iran can enter sports stadiums or not. However, after continuous pressure from FIFA, IRNA deputy Sports Minister Jamshid Taghizadeh said, women would be allowed to enter Azadi Stadium to watch
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#1732772576908228-551: The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes , appointed her as Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator (DHC) for eastern Chad . She was based in the town of Abéché , located approximately 80 kilometres west of the border with the Sudan 's conflict-torn Darfur region. In 2007, Chad was hosting over 280,000 refugees and over 170,000 internally displaced persons , most in the eastern region, and she
247-607: 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". Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran ( FFIRI ; Persian : فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران , Fadrasion fotbal Jamehori Eslami Iran )
266-653: The men's World Cup 2022 qualifier match between Iran and Cambodia in October. Head coach: Amir Ghalenoei Head coach: Reza Enayati Head coach: Samad Marfavi Head coach: Hossein Abdi Head coach: Ali Doustimehr Head coach: Vahid Shamsaei Head coach: Ali Sanei Head coach: Ali Naderi Head coach: Maryam Azmoon Head coach: TBD Head coach: TBD Head coach: Shadi Mahini Head coach: TBD Fatma Samoura Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura (born 9 September 1962)
285-480: The reordering of the organisational structure of FIFA in 2016, including the appointment of deputy secretaries general, and the creation of a new women's football division. On 14 June 2023, she announced she would be stepping down as FIFA secretary general, and tendered her resignation to the president, to take effect on 31 December 2023. In July 2023, Samoura travelled to Australia in NAIDOC Week , ahead of
304-455: Was also implicated in corruption. The role had been occupied by white men for 100 years before her appointment. On 20 June 2016 she assumed the role of FIFA secretary general, responsible for overseeing the commercial and operational side of the organisation. Samoura declared on 3 November 2016 that players for England , Scotland , and Wales would be punished if they wore the remembrance poppy on Remembrance Day , as FIFA classes it as
323-611: Was born in Dakar , in the recently independent Senegal, on 9 September 1962. She is the only daughter (the second of seven children), her father, a Senegalese military man, and her mother, a teacher. Her identity as a black Muslim woman is important to her. She attended the University of Lyon , attaining a master's degree in English and Spanish, and subsequently gained a postgraduate degree in international relations and trade at
342-426: Was briefly suspended by FIFA from international competition in 2011 for being required by the federation to wear headscarves. In 2014, Iran joined the Central Asian Football Association . In 2015, the federation banned players from the men's national team due to conscription problems. In August 2017, the federation banned Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Hajsafi from the national team after they played against
361-549: Was tasked with working for their return. The official's functions consist in providing support and guidance to a team composed of seven United Nations agencies and over 40 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in eastern Chad. During her career at the UN, she became used to negotiating with local war lords and heads of state. Samoura met Gianni Infantino , president of FIFA , in 2015 in Madagascar at
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