Country Yemen | National team men's national team | |
Governing body Yemen Football Association | ||
Football in Yemen is run by the Yemen Football Association. The association administers the Yemen national football team, as well as the Yemeni League.
Contents
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Yemen. The Yemen national football team competes in the FIFA and AFC leagues. The country also hosts many football clubs that compete nationally and internationally.
Yemen hosted the 2010 Gulf Cup of Nations in Aden. Yemen was thought to be the strongest competitor, but was defeated in the first three rounds.
The development of football in Yemen is often thought to be held by back many of Yemen's internal problems such as terrorist attack threats, political tension between the North and South, an unstable economy, and a high illiteracy rate.
The Yemeni national team has never won a championship, though it includes several renowned Arab players, including striker Ali Al-Nono who is the highest goal-scorer for the Yemeni League and has played in the top division of Bahrain and Syria.
Popularity
Despite boasting a population of over 20,000,000 inhabitants, Yemen has only 9,200 registered players. Many of the clubs in the Yemeni League offer free admission to their matches, but despite this incentive attendance is declining and support is waning.
Broadcasting
While football is the most popular sport in Yemen, its domestic league is overshadowed by the more popular European leagues of Spain's La Liga which Yemenis prefer to watch and support.