Khaberni - Written by Mufid Hasooneh:
Since the founding of the Jordan Football Association in 1949, Jordanian football has not entered the achievements record on the three Arabic, continental, and international levels, and the work of successive union management councils has been confined to securing the staging of local championships, their regularity, and then the affiliation to the three unions, Arab, Asian, and International, without Jordanian football having an administrative or technical presence in these unions or their committees. In fact, the Jordanian football scene appeared at the national team level for the first time in the mid-1970s during the Asian Championship qualifiers, while its first appearance was in the World Cup qualifiers in 1986.
At the club and age-group national teams level, their Arab and continental appearances were limited, as was the case with the administrative and technical staff, whether referees or observers, as the appearance of Jordanian teams in Arab, continental, and international tournaments was delayed significantly.
Football was merely a "hobby" whose rules imposed lifelong club membership on the player due to the lack of legislation regulating the relationship between the player and the club. Local tournaments were held with limited club participation, not exceeding (6) clubs at the first division (professionals now), and the number of clubs affiliated with the union did not exceed (30) clubs, with very limited numbers of players, referees, and coaches.
On February 7, 1999, His Majesty King Abdullah II assumed his constitutional powers as King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and His Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein succeeded him as the president of the Jordan Football Association.
During the presidency of King Abdullah of the Football Association, Jordanian football achieved its first Arab accomplishment by winning the gold medal at the Arab Sports Tournament - Beirut 1997.
* A new era with a new vision
During the presidency of His Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of the Football Association, Jordanian football witnessed astonishing development on all levels, whether the clubs and national teams level or the administrative and technical staff level. Thanks to the vision of His Highness Prince Ali and his dedication to elevating Jordanian football to the pinnacle of glory, the scope of work expanded along with the size of the union's activities and budget, and the clubs achieved financial income for the first time in terms of its amount and continuity.
Since his first year as president of the union, the Nashama retained the gold medal of the ninth Arab Hussein Tournament in 1999, making this title a launching point for significant work under Prince Ali's era. Jordanian football entered the Arab, continental, and international football scenes, doubling the number of clubs and creating many divisions, and doubling the number of referees and coaches, thanks to the vast number of Arab, Asian, and international training courses hosted by Jordan aimed at developing the work of Jordanian football staff in both the union and clubs, as His Highness Prince Ali always saw that the clubs are a permanent and main partner and the backbone of Jordanian football.
During his era, the union also deepened its relations with continental and international federations around the world, then launched age-group national teams, introduced women's football activity for the first time, and started women's football tournaments and regular age-group tournaments, making the national team play friendly and official matches continuously throughout the year with great diversity.
With the continued work and opening up to the Asian continent, and even global football, His Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein gained greater trust from the largest continent, Asia, and he was elected as the vice president of the International Federation representing the Asian continent in 2011, then became the first Arab to enter the arena competing for the presidency of the largest sports system, FIFA, amid appreciation and admiration of the world.
For further development in the technical system, the union employed experts from Arab brothers, and foremost among them was the late Mahmoud El-Gohary, whom His Highness Prince Ali entrusted with launching the Prince Ali Centers for promising talents, which were instrumental in discovering many talents across all cities and governorates of the nation, who later became prominent stars of the national teams and the Nashama squad, contributing to the crowning of the Jordan Football Association with the Best Developing Union Award from Asia in 2013, and His Highness Prince Ali received the award.
And the successes continued on all levels, as Jordanian clubs appeared in Arab and continental tournaments and achieved accomplishments that were the first of their kind, where Faisaly and Shabab Al Ordon won the AFC Cup title three times from 2005 to 2007, reached the final match of the Arab Champions League 2007 and 2017, and several other Arab tournaments.
Then came the launch of the Nashama team on both the Asian and international stages as it qualified for the Asian Cup finals for the first time in 2004, then the youth team qualified for the first time in Jordanian football history for the World Youth Cup finals - Canada 2007, being the only Arab team in the tournament.
The Nashama maintained their continuous presence by qualifying for the Asian Cup finals, reaching the second round in each participation, while many age-group teams reached the finals of Asian championships, and the Nashama reached the global playoffs of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. Women's football also received attention and sponsorship from His Highness Prince Ali, as the Nashmiat appeared in various Arab, continental, and international venues and achieved great accomplishments. Then came the biggest event when Jordan stepped up to host the largest global tournament since the era of independence, exemplified by hosting the World Youth Girls Cup in 2016, then the Asian Women's Cup in 2018.
* * Years of harvesting in the greatest achievements
The years of harvesting the efforts of His Highness Prince Ali, which extended for a quarter-century of generosity, elevation, and prosperity for Jordanian football, spanned from the year 2023 until the end of 2025, marking the harvesting years for Jordanian football since the era of the Emirate of East Jordan.
In 2020, His Highness Prince Ali entrusted Ms. Samar Nasar as the General Secretary of the union, making her the first woman to hold this prestigious position in the history of Jordanian football. His Highness's choice of Ms. Samar Nasar came after her significant success in leading the supreme committee of the World Youth Girls Cup hosted by Jordan, which prepared a file to host this biggest event in the history of Jordanian sports, winning the admiration of FIFA. Through this, Jordan won the hosting of the championship. Before that, Ms. Samar Nasar was a member of the Olympic committee and led the Jordanian sports mission to the 2012 Olympic Games, hence her entry into the Jordanian football system through the widest and most important doors, starting by being elected a member of the executive body, then being entrusted with the very important position.
Since she took up her duties as General Secretary, Ms. Samar chose Mr. Faleh Al-Daajeh to assist her in this significant responsibility, selecting him to benefit from his long-standing expertise and international and local relations, which he had gained through nearly a quarter-century of work with the union, dealing with files of players, clubs, national teams, and international participations, making the position of Assistant General Secretary active and fixture for the first time in the structural history of the union by defining the supporting duties and tasks, contributing to an ideal mixture for the General Secretariat.
The General Secretariat, led by the General Secretary and her assistant with active participation from the union department managers, formed a working cell to implement an advanced work mechanism characterized by precise application of the tournaments' regulations and instructions without any favors, which upset some stakeholders of the game, but it found full support from His Highness, the president of the union, and the board members, thus witnessing more stability and trust in the work.
Under the directives and blessings of His Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, the union successfully contracted with the Moroccan technical team, with the General Secretary Ms. Samar Nasar and her assistant working together with the technical, administrative, and medical staff of the national team to provide all forms of support and preparation for major participations, starting with the Asian Cup in Qatar 2023, then the World Cup qualifiers, followed by the Arab Cup.
* The first raindrops from Qatar
The nation, under its Hashemite leadership and the people loving their country and leadership, experienced the best moments of happiness with the major accomplishments achieved by the Nashama, with the Asian Cup finals being "the first raindrops from Qatar," where the Nashama won admiration and appreciation from the largest continent on the face of the earth - Asia - after capturing all the lights and brilliance and achieving results that made them reach the final match, becoming the runner-up of the Asian champion for the first time.
Thus, the Nashama received a royal reception from His Majesty King Abdullah and from his crown prince, Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, who always supported and backed the Nashama, just like the Nashama received an official reception led by the achiever and leader of Jordanian football, His Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein.
And because the Nashama wanted to prove to the world that what was achieved in Qatar was not a fluke, the World Cup qualifiers came where the Nashama achieved the dream of the nation in general and the Jordanian football family in particular by qualifying directly to the World Cup finals, becoming the first Arab team to reach the finals after finishing as runners-up in their group, raising the level of ambition among the country's citizens after this historic accomplishment, followed by the third participation within two years, with the Arab Cup held in Qatar at the end of 2025 under the supervision of FIFA, where the Nashama achieved the best participation in the history of Jordanian football by reaching the final match and finishing as runners-up.
Thus, Jordanian football achieved the best three Arab, continental, and international accomplishments under the presidency of His Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, contributing to record-breaking figures through online search engines worldwide especially after the Nashama reached the World Cup and were drawn in the same group as the defending world champion Argentina team led by the legendary Messi.
Perhaps the administrative and technical stability witnessed by the Nashama team with the presence of a golden generation of stars, the wise choice of the Moroccan school to lead the Nashama, and the constant contact of the General Secretariat with the national team system throughout the three years without interruption, implementing the directives of His Highness Prince Ali, contributed to these historic achievements.
