In a 2015 friendly against Algeria, six of the eleven players in the starting team were born outside of Qatar. Then president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter warned Qatar that FIFA would monitor their player selection to ensure that they were not relying too heavily on naturalised players. He made comparisons to the Qatar men's national handball team, referring to the team's selection for the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship as an "absurdity". The following year, naturalised players formed the backbone of the team and were sufficiently integral that head coach Jorge Fossati threatened to resign if they were removed.