Al-Arabi SC (Qatar)

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Al-Arabi

Full name	Al-Arabi Sports Club (Arabic: النادي العربي الرياضي)
Nickname(s)	Fareeg Al-Ahlam (The Dream Team) Century Club in Qatar
Short name	ARB
Founded	1 April 1952 (69 years ago) (1952-04-01)
Ground	Grand Hamad Stadium
Capacity	13,000
President	Sheikh Tamim Bin Fahad Al Thani
Manager	Younes Ali
League	Qatar Stars League
2020–21	Qatar Stars League, 7th of 12
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Al Arabi's active sections
Football	Basketball	Handball
Volleyball	Futsal	Reserves

Al-Arabi Sports Club (Arabic: النادي العربي الرياضي) is a Qatari sports club based in Doha. Founded in 1952, the most prominent team of the club is the football team that competes in the Qatar Stars League.^[1] The club's home ground is the 13,000-seat Grand Hamad Stadium, where they have played since their establishment.

Al-Arabi had their first major success in 1978, winning the Emir of Qatar Cup, and won various titles during the 1980s and 1990s. The club enjoyed their greatest period of success in those two decades, winning 17 major trophies. Domestically, Al-Arabi have won seven league titles, eight Emir of Qatar Cups, one Qatar Crown Prince Cup and six Qatar Sheikh Jassem Cups.

Al-Arabi's regular kit colours are red shirts and shorts with red socks. The club's crest has been changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club and modernise its image. The current crest, featuring a ceremonial falcon, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. They are known for having one of the largest fan bases in Qatar next to rivals Al Rayyan. In terms of championships won, they are the second most successful club on a local level after Al Sadd. Al-Arabi is known by various nicknames including "Dream Team", "The Red Devils", and "Century Club".

History[]

Foundation (1952–1990)[]

The club was founded in 1952 under the name "Al-Tahrir", making them the second oldest team in Qatar. In 1957, the club merged with Al-Wehda, a club founded which was founded on that year led by Mohamed Ali Ahmed Al-Ansari, after playing a friendly. They merged under the name of Al-Wehda. Al-Wehda did not play out Qatar or host any foreign clubs due to lack of financial possibilities for the club. In 1972, the club integrated under their current name, Al Arabi.^[2] The first president of the club was Ahmed Ali Ahmed Al-Ansari.

Al-Arabi was known for having one of the largest fan bases in all of Qatar, as well as other Gulf states, and was well-known overseas. Their popularity outside of the Middle East was bolstered by their achievements and national team players, until 2003 when it reached its peak with the signing of Argentine legend Gabriel Batistuta.^[3]

It placed 14th place in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics's 1901–2000 Asian Club of the Century.

Founders[]

Al-Wehda Ahmed Ali Ahmed Al-Ansari Sultan Abdullah Al-Jaber Ahmad Yousef Saie Mohammad Ali Ahmed Al-Ansari Mullah Mohammed Abdulrahman Sultan Said Ali Faraj Said

Al-Tahrir Mubarak Mohammed Al Othman Al Khulaifi Abdullah Mohammed Al Othman Al Khulaifi Mohammed Saleh Al Hitmi Salem Bakhit Ghurery Khalifa Al Hitmi Hitmi Bin Ahmed Al-Hitmi

Golden era (1990–2000)[]

The 1990s marked the start of a continuous chain of succession for Al-Arabi. The dream team had come to fruition with the likes of Marco Antônio and Richard Owebukeri who were the top scorers in the league at one point. Perhaps the most significant player was Mubarak Mustafa, who is still considered one of the best Qatari footballers in history. The team, impressing many with its versatile squad, took the Qatari league by storm, winning it 5 times out of 10. Not satisfied merely with local success, the team achieved runners-up position in the AFC Champions League in 1995.^[4]

They won their first Heir Apparent cup in 1997.^[5]

Decline (2000–2011)[]

The new century saw a significant slump in Al-Arabi's performance. Factors which impacted this may include the departure of Mubarak Mustafa and the increase of competitiveness from local clubs. In the 2002 season, Al Arabi finished in 7th place, the lowest position since its debut in the Qatar Stars League.

The arrival of Gabriel Batistuta in 2003 saw a glimpse of hope for Al-Arabi as they finished significantly higher in the league than the last 2 previous seasons, however they ended up finished 9th in the league at the end of the 2007 season, a new low. They did not win a single domestic title during this period, and had limited success in international competitions. Furthermore, they suffered their largest-ever defeat against Al Sadd that season when they were beaten 7–0, which resulted in the sacking of their coach Cabralzinho.^[6]

In 2006, due to popular dissent accosting the club president Sheikh Falah bin Jassim, there was an administration change which resulted in Sheikh Faisal bin Mubarak being elected as president.

Management crisis (2011–present)[]

The beginning of the 2011–12 season looked bright for Al Arabi, with the club winning their first domestic silverware in 13 years by defeating Umm Salal SC in the final of the 2011 Sheikh Jassem Cup. However, a string of bad results in the league resulted in the sacking of their coach, Paulo Silas.

They were also eligible to play in the 2012 AFC Champions League, which they were the first team to be eliminated from. During this period, the club had been in charge of 3 coaches in a span of 3 months. They infamously made history by being the first team since 2007 to lose every match in the group stage, as well as the first Qatari team to achieve this.^[7] As a result, the club's Director of Football, Mubarak Mustafa, announced his departure from the club.^[8] Furthermore, Dr. Abdullah al-Mal, president of the club, announced his retirement from sports.^[9] He was replaced by Hitme Bin Ali Al Hitmi. The fiscal budget of the club was reduced from 15 million riyals to 9 million riyals.^[10]

The title of Dream Team[]

Al Arabi Club called by the nickname " Dream Team ", an old launched by the local press in the season title (1992/1993) proportions team American dreams of basketball where the team has achieved in the early nineties all titles and was the win significant results of all the teams at least three goals in every game.

Most notably Matches at that time, win 6–1 against Al-Rayyan SC, Win 9–0 against Al itthad ( Al Gharafa), and win 6–0 against Al Ahli.

Al Arabi Fans Club[]

Al Arabi Fans Club was established on 21 October 2015, it was created to support the team in all Sports and to gather the fans to think of innovative ways to support and cheer the teams throughout the season ^[11] in 21 October 2015, The same day the Fan Club was established, Al Arabi Club management decided to withhold the Number (1) jersey permanently from the list of the first team players and award it to the Fans, whom officially became the number (1) player in Al Arabi Club, Where Captain Masoud Zeraei waived his number (1) and awarded it to the Fans, who will retains its permanently under resolution. They have the most supporters in Qatar and that is one of the reasons why the gave them shirt number (1).

Stadium[]

Grand Hamad Stadium (Arabic: استاد حمد الكبير), also known as the Al-Arabi Sports Club Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The football team Al-Arabi SC play there. The stadium holds 13,000 people. The stadium was used extensively during the 2006 Asian Games, and was a venue for several different sports; these include football, table tennis, rugby sevens and fencing. Iraq national football team played their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) games at the ground. Now they use the Stadium as a home for Yemen national football team in 2015 Fifa World qualification (AFC).

Rivalries[]

Al-Rayyan[]

Al-Rayyan and Al Arabi are often the most considered the most passionate sets of fans in Qatar. This derby known as "Fans Derby".

Head-to-head[]

From 1994 to 2017.

Head-to-head
Competition	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Qatar Stars League	49	11	17	21	63	88	−25
Sheikh Jassem Cup	4	3	1	0	8	2	+6
Emir Cup	6	2	1	3	9	10	−1
Crown Prince Cup	7	1	1	5	6	16	−10
Reserve League	5	1	1	3	12	15	−3
Qatar Stars Cup	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Total	72	18	21	33	98	133	−35

Al Sadd[]

This is the clash of Qatar's two most successful teams: Al Sadd and Al Arabi. For some fans, winning this derby is more noteworthy than winning the league itself. The derby is an important component of the country's culture.^[12]

Al Arabi always regarded themselves as the club of Qatar's working class, in contrast with the more upper-class support base of Al Sadd. The social class divide between the two fan bases eventually diminished.^[12]

Memorable matches[]

Bold indicates a win.

Season	Result	Competition	Notes
1981–82	0–1	Emir Cup
1985–86	1–0	Emir Cup
1992–93	2–0	Emir Cup
1995–96	0–0	Qatar Stars League	Al Arabi crowned champions.
2009–10	3–3	Qatar Stars League	Al Sadd come back from 3–0 down to deny Al Arabi an ACL spot.

Head-to-head[]

From 1996 to 2017.

Head-to-head
Competition	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Qatar Stars League	49	13	12	24	54	91	−37
Sheikh Jassem Cup	6	1	0	5	8	13	−5
Emir Cup	11	3	2	6	11	17	−6
Crown Prince Cup	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Reserve League	6	2	2	2	11	11	0
Qatar Stars Cup	4	1	2	1	8	12	−4
Total	78	21	18	39	95	147	−52

Crest[]

• 

  Al Arabi's crest, from the late 1900s to the early 2000s
• 

  Al Arabi's crest, present

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers[]

Period	Kit manufacture	Shirt main sponsor	Shirt sub sponsor
2000–2001	Grand Sport		None
2001–2002	Adidas		None
2002–2003"			None
2004–2003	Erreà		None
2004–2005"	Grand Sport	None	None
2005–2006		None	None
2006–2007	Adidas		None
2007–2008		None	None
2008–2009		None	None
2009–2010			& Al Rayan Bank
2010–2011
2011–2012	Adidas
2012–2013		None
2013–2017		None	None
2017–2018		None	None
2018–2019	Puma	None	None
2019-2021			&
2021 – present			& &

Honours[]

International[]

• Asian Club Championship
  • Runners-up (1): 1994–95

Domestic[]

• Qatar Stars League
  • Champions (7): 1982–83, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97
• Emir of Qatar Cup
  • Champions (8): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93
• Qatar Crown Prince Cup
  • Champions (1): 1997
• Qatar Sheikh Jassem Cup
  • Champions (6): 1980, 1982, 1994, 2008, 2010, 2011

League results[]

Performance in AFC competitions[]

• Asian Club Championship: 5 appearances

1987: Group stage (Top 8)

1993: Qualifying – 1st round

1995: Runners-up

1996: Group stage (Top 8)

1999: First Round

• Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 2 appearances

1990–91: Second Round

1993–94: Semi-final

• AFC Champions League: 1 appearance

2012: Group stage

Performance in UAFA competitions[]

• Gulf Club Champions Cup: 7 appearances

1986: Runners-up

2002: Group stage

2006: Group stage

2011: Quarter-finals

Players[]

As of Qatar Stars League:

No Position Player Nation 2 DF Abdulrahman Bilal  Qatar 3 MF Mohammed Sayyar  Qatar 4 MF Abdulrahman Anad  Qatar 5 DF Marc Muniesa  Spain 6 MF Abdullah Marafee  Qatar 8 MF Ahmed Fatehi  Qatar 9 FW Aaron Boupendza  Gabon 11 DF Abdulkarim Al-Ali  Qatar 12 DF Hamid Ismail  Qatar 13 DF Yousef Muftah  Qatar 15 DF Jassem Gaber  Qatar 16 FW Abdullah Al-Sulaiti  Qatar 17 MF Aron Gunnarsson  Iceland 18 MF Mohammed Essam  Qatar 19 DF Ibrahim Kala  Qatar 20 FW Abdulaziz Al-Ansari  Qatar 21 GK Mahmud Abunada  Qatar 22 DF Khalid Mubarak  Qatar 23 DF Fahad Al-Abdulrahman  Qatar 24 FW Abdullah Murisi  Qatar 25 GK Loaay Ashoor  Egypt 26 MF Barakat Jaafer  Iraq 28 MF Youssef Msakni (on loan from Al-Duhail)  Tunisia 31 MF Abdelrahman Moustafa (on loan from Al-Duhail)  Qatar 34 MF Abdelaziz Al-Naimi U19  Qatar 37 DF Ahmed Suhail (on loan from Al-Sadd)  Qatar 44 MF Hassan Saif U19  Qatar 45 DF Elhashimi Elhussein U19  Qatar 55 FW Abdulgadir Ilyas (on loan from Al-Sailiya)  Qatar 72 FW Ahmed Aboutrika U19  Egypt 74 GK Satea Abdelnasser  Qatar 77 MF Mohammad Abuobida  Qatar 88 MF Farshid Esmaeili  Iran 96 GK Amir Hassan U19  Qatar 99 FW Rami Suhail  Qatar

Unregistered players[]

No Position Player Nation 7 MF Mehrdad Mohammadi  Iran — DF Feras Dahboor  Qatar — MF  Qatar

Out on loan[]

No	Position	Player	Nation
14	FW	Fahad Khalfan (on loan to Al-Sailiya)	Qatar
—	DF	Khalifah Al-Malki (on loan to Al-Shamal)	Qatar
—	MF	Mohamed Salah Elneel (on loan to Al-Sailiya)	Qatar

Club staff[]

Technical and administrative staff

Last updated: April 2019.

Coaching staff Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson Assistant coach Jordi Condom Aulí 2nd assistant coach Bjarki Már Ólafsson Physical coach Miguel Angel Garcia Performance Analyst Thiago Cardoso Souza Goalkeeper coach Ferdinando Scarpello Administration staff Team manager Adel Al Busairi[13] Reserve team manager Hamad Al-Sulaiti[13] Deputy director Ali Al-Sulaiti

Youth team technical director Technical director Petrus In 't Groen Youth team coaching staff U–19 head coach Teo Pirija U–17 head coach Omer Khalid U–15 head coach Abderrazak Kniss U–14 head coach Yousif Hamoor U–13 head coach Gideon Dijks Goalkeeper coach Sandro Daros Orlando Ribecaro

Club officials[]

Managerial history[]

Present and past managers of Al-Arabi (incomplete):^[14][15]
(* denotes caretaker role)

Al-Wehda (1957–72)[]

• Tayeb Fadel (1957–??)
• Hassan Djidjo (1968–??)
• Ahmed Ali Al-Ansari (1969)

Al-Arabi (1972–present)[]

Former managers with unknown dates

• Mohammed Atatash
• J. Mustafa
• Atha Al-Shatti
• Hilmi Al-Qut
• Medhat Mohammed
• Al-Makki
• Flamarion Nunes
• Ahmed Jassim Al-Jassim "Menotti"

Management[]

Position	Staff
President	Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Jaber Al-Thani
general secretary	Talal Al-Kuwari
Director General	Faleh AlHader

Presidents[]

Club rankings[]

National ranking[]

As of 9 October 2021.^[18]

Current Rank	Country	Team	Points
4		Al-Rayyan SC	1393
5		Al-Gharafa SC	1384
6		Al-Arabi SC	1323
7		Qatar SC	1313
8		Al-Sailiya SC	1300

Asian ranking[]

As of 10 October 2021.^[19]

Current Rank	Country	Team	Points
115		Western Sydney	1324
116		PSM Makassar	1324
117		Al-Arabi SC	1323
118		Fajr Sepasi	1323
119		Gwangju FC	1321

World ranking[]

As of 10 October 2021.^[20]

Current Rank	Country	Team	Points
1200		Los Caimanes	1323
1201		Hajduk Kula	1323
1202		Al-Arabi SC	1323
1203		RKC Waalwijk	1323
1204		Farul Constanta	1323

References[]

External links[]

• Official website