Eight players qualified for the quarter-finals of the “Best Player in the History of Emirati Football” referendum, in an initiative launched by “Emirates Today” newspaper, with the aim of interacting with the public in their homes during the efforts of the current country to combat the spread of the Corona virus emerging (Covid 19), And in furtherance of the principle "Khalk_in_home_", as well as the opportunity to restore the names of beautiful time players to the fore.

The finalists competed in a list of 50 stars, but the eight most stars who were voted were chosen: Ismail Matar, Ali Mabkhout, Zuhair Bakhit, Omar Abdul Rahman (Amuri), Adnan Al-Taliani, Abdul-Razzaq Ibrahim, Fahd Khamis, Khalil Ghanem. The names came through the choices of the audience, who participated actively in the referendum across the multiple Emirates Today platforms, namely, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Then the referendum moved to other sports accounts after the great interaction, and was accompanied by the participation of a number of star players, officials and sports celebrities.

Competition came strong between the names nominated, which included players from the current and previous generations, with some unexpected surprises for the players whose names emerged after they forgot the memory, and others were current, but they were not very popular.

50 stars

The vote began with the selection of an initial list of 15 players who were voted on, giving the newspaper readers the opportunity to nominate any other player until the audience memory is tested and the referendum includes all the players, and certainly the comments were not devoid of the demand to put some names on the list, and indeed each player was registered and responded His name is to vote over three days.

The initial list of candidates included the players: Ismail Matar, Ahmed Khalil, Ali Mabkhout, Zuhair Bakhit, Khalil Ghanem, Mubarak Ghanem, Adnan Al-Taliani, Ali Thani, Fahd Khamis, Nasser Khamis, Abdulaziz Mohammed, Amouri, Khaled Ismail, Muhammad Omar, Mohsen Musbah, In addition, nine beautiful stars were added: Ahmed Issa, Salem Boushnin, Jassim Mohammed, Salem Gohar, Mohamed Kojak, Sibit Khater, Bakhit Saad, Abdullah Sultan, Hassan Mohamed, where all players were allowed to vote.

Also, 26 other stars were added in the first stage, they are: Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, Jumaa Rabi`, Abdulaziz Al-Anbari, Khamis Saad, Bandar Al-Ahbabi, Majed Hassan, Khaled Issa, Ali Khasif, Jassim Muhammad, Issa Mir, Ibrahim Mir, Saeed Al-Kass, Adel Muhammad, Faisal Khalil, Hassan Saeed, Muhammad Al-Attas, Ahmed Rabie, Badr Salih, Farouk Abdul Rahman, Abdul Rahim Juma, Abdul Salam Juma, Abdul Qadir Hassan, Majed Nasser, Sultan Rashid, Salem Hadid, Abdul Rahman Muhammad.

Celebrities are participating

The vote witnessed the participation of celebrities, athletes and officials who interacted, including sports commentator Ali Saeed Al-Kaabi, who nominated Al-Taliani, and said in a tweet on his official account on Twitter: Our card in Wasfi Asya, Adnan is an invaluable myth, unfortunately that our media material no longer retains its magic and imaginative football archive. An Italian journalist told me this Italian day would have worked in Italy.

The former national team star, Spet Khater, commented on the referendum by writing a large number of names and demanded that the vote be a criterion for each player’s participation with his club and his team, and his accomplishments in his club and his team, so that the number of the player’s personal titles is limited to his football career.

Also participating in the vote were the former Director General of Ajman Civil Defense, Major General Saleh al-Matroushi, Vice-President of the Federation Elections Commission from Fujairah Police Brigadier General Mohamed Al-Hafiti, Director of the National Olympic Team Jamal Buhandi, and other sports and celebrities stars.

Khalil Ghanem: A timely initiative to restore the beautiful stars of time

Khorfakkan Football President Khalil Ghanem, one of the stars of the national team in the 1990 World Cup, confirmed his happiness with the idea of ​​voting, as it is a beautiful opportunity to restore names that had a history and a footprint in Emirati football. He explained that the public’s vote and their differences are a healthy phenomenon, because every fan or athlete who saw a player may, from his point of view, be the best, and this does not reduce any player who has existed and served the national team.

Khalil Ghanem, told «Emirates Today»: «Certainly there are names that will be unfair in this vote, which is natural in any vote in any country in the world, and there is always a difference, which is the best Brazilian Pele, the mother of Argentine Messi, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Maradona "Asmaa is difficult to differentiate between them and each of them his fans, and I hope that we will see the coming period a vote on the best defender, the best striker and the best goalkeeper, and so on, and there will be a great interaction with such votes launched by a large media platform in the country."