Football in Saudi Arabia
Football is the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia. Football in Saudi Arabia is governed by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF) (). It was founded in 1956. It administers both the club competitions and the national football teams of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabia Football Federation founder is Prince Abdullah bin Faisal al Saud. History. National football team. The Saudi Arabia national football team (), is nicknamed as Al-Saqour, which means The Falcons. They are one of the most successful football teams in Asia, winning the Asian Championship three times and qualified to the World Cup  six times (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, and 2022). Rivalries. Saudi Arabia has a major rivalry with Iran. League. The Saudi Professional League is the highest level of competition in the country. In the 1970s, football was organized on a regional basis across Saudi Arabia. In the 1976 Saudi Professional League season, with the improvement of transportation links and local football, the league was launched on a national basis. Eight clubs participated in the first season of the tournament. In 1981, a decision was made by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation to increase the number of clubs to 18 clubs , 8 of which take part in the first league, with the other 10 competing in the second league. In the 1985 season, the number of clubs in the first league was increased to 12. In 1990, a league cup was introduced, known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques League Cup. It was a two-stage competition, a round-robin and knockout phase. The top four teams (known as the Golden Square) from the round-robin moved to the knock-out phase to compete for the final championship. In the 2007–08 season, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques  Champions Cup was introduced for the more elite teams to compete for. Eight teams participate, including the top six teams of the first league, the winner of the Crown Prince Cup, and the Prince Faisal Cup. National team. National ranking. , Saudi Arabia is placed 48th in the FIFA World Rankings. Leagues of Saudi Arabia. There are four professional football league levels of Saudi Arabia: The Saudi Professional League was ranked 27th in 2015 by the International Federation of Football. League system. The Saudi Arabia football association football league system is organized in a pyramidal shape similar to football league systems  in many other countries. The principle of promotion and relegation binds the leagues. Women's football. Women's football is played in Saudi Arabia, but only in the affluent areas, as the country's very restrictive laws (especially those concerning women) inhibit the practice of the sport. In February 2020, Saudi Arabia launched a football league for women. Saudi Arabia football privatization. In November 2016, the government of Saudi Arabia approved plans to turn state-owned sports clubs into private companies. This is part of the economic reforms to reduce Saudi reliance on oil exports and ease financial burdens on  the government.