Oman- Football: HFA aims to play a key role in nurturing future stars: Habsi

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) It has been just over two years since Oman legendary goalkeeper Ali al Habsi launched Al Habsi Football School (HFS), a project conceptualised by the ace footballer himself, to share his years of experience and an effort to give back his expertise to the young Oman footballers.

Following encouraging strides made by HFS over the past couple of years, Ali, along with his siblings, who actually manage the school, formally rebranded the school to Al Habsi Football Academy (HFA) at a grand ceremony on Monday night under the auspices of H E Dr Mohammed al Rumhi, Minister of Oil and Gas.

John Burridge (left) and Ali al Habsi

Speaking at the event, Ali, who currently plays for Saudi giants, Al Hilal, said, 'With my 15 years of experience in Europe and now with Al Hilal, a top Asian club, I am keen to give back to the sultanate and share my experiences with young footballers of Oman.

'Through HFA, I will be able to do it in a professional manner. HFA's aim is to play a key role in nurturing future stars of Oman.'

The 36 year old Ali, who has 118 national team caps, and played more than 200 games for different English clubs, said, 'We are ambitious in scouting and grooming future Omani stars with our new philosophy at HFA. We thank the companies who have come to support us.'

At the launch of the school in January 2016, Ali had said that the school will be transformed into a full-fledged academy in future and 'Monday's rebranding is part of the promise we had made during our launch.'

Ahmed al Habsi, HFA's operations and marketing director said, 'We achieved success over the past two years during which we had hundreds of children hone their skills under top coaches including our technical director Andy Watson, an experienced Scottish coach.

'We have now two branches at The Sultan's School and Azzan Bin Qais International School and as part of our initiatives to provide exposure to talented kids, we will take part in the Youdan Trophy in Sheffield, England in August for the second successive year.'

Suleiman al Habsi, CEO of HFA, said, 'We have reached a stage where we needed to be more organised. The rebranding is part of our efforts to become the best academy in Oman. Our growing influence has also been noticed in the region with the 2022 Qatar's World Cup committee signing a deal with us to help create World Cup awareness among children in Oman.'

On Monday, Ali signed a deal with Khalid al Kubaisi, chief of the Qatar's 2022 World Cup Supreme Committee's Advisory Unit and Special Projects.

'HFA will also organise a Ramadan tournament for academies in Oman and for seniors at Seeb Club this year,' said Suleiman.

H E Dr Rumhi said, 'It is great to see a player of Ali's stature making efforts to give back to the nation. I wish him all success and I am certain that his academy will help players in allround development under a professional team.'

Also present on the occasion on Monday were H E Rashad al Hinai, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Sports Affairs, Mohsin al Masroori, Oman Football Association (OFA) first vice-president, Said al Balushi, CEO of OFA, Sayyid Khalid al

Busaidi, former OFA president, former national team players, endurance racing star Ahmad al Harthy, and Ali's mentor and former Oman goalkeeping coach John Burridge.

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