The former player of the Union of Kalba and Al Ain team, Saif Sultan, considered that the problem faced by the clubs and the national team, at the present time, in the dearth of the attacking players, the citizens, is mainly due to professionalism and foreigners, who pulled the rug from under the feet of the citizen players.
Saif Sultan said to «Emirates Today»: «The national team was clearly affected, due to the absence of the prominent attackers, except for a very few, so today the player searches for any position in which he plays except in the attack line, due to the influence of foreign professionals.
He added: «This matter caused the scarcity of attackers at the present time, unlike the previous one, which was crowded with good attackers, unlike today, many attackers previously had to sit on the bench, due to the abundance of players in the offensive positions. He added: "Many people remember the team that rose to the World Cup in Italy in 1990, and they forget the players who represented it in 1986, which was one step away from hijacking the card that went to the Iraq national team."
He continued, "We greatly appreciate the players who defend the position of Emirati football at the present time, but the stadiums are no longer a birthplace." He explained, "Foreign professionals have taken control and monopolized the attack centers, with the exception of only two players, Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil." He stressed that the responsibility is borne by the club’s departments, which have preferred their own interests over the interests of Emirati football.
He added: «I played after the association of Kalba with the Al Ain team and I was the top scorer of the team, and despite that I worked hard to join the team, but I was not able to do so in the time of abundance of scorers, and if I found this characteristic at the present time, the team would have another matter.» He continued: «Another problem that must be solved is the penetration of foreign players in the name of the“ resident player ”to the teams of the Sunni stages, which threatens the expected absence of talented attackers even at the level of the Sunni stages.
"Unlike today, many attackers previously had to sit on the bench due to the abundance of players in offensive positions."