Can new president repay the faith

It is a pleasure to report that, in one way at least, there appears to be real unity within the game in this country, a fact illustrated by last week's election of Yousuf Al Serkal as President of the UAE Football Association. A total of 26 out of 30 clubs voted for Al Serkal at the General Meeting in Abu Dhabi and that is refreshing given the blood-letting between the UAE FA and the Pro League last summer when the former dissolved the latter and then took over its running.

With such a mandate, Al Serkal has the opportunity to push through a root and branch review of the game in this country, something that is long overdue, but I suspect the cause of the strong vote in his favour was far more conservative.

Most of the clubs appear relatively content with their lot and so a vote for Al Serkal, already in temporary charge of the national governing body since last December, may well have been a vote for the status quo, give or take a change or two.

More teams

The one change that now seems almost certain is a 14-team Etisalat Pro League next season. Al Serkal has said beforehand he wanted to see it. It was obviously a vote-winner with the smaller clubs, for whom such an expansion offers a better chance of joining the top flight, while it would also appeal to Pro League clubs that either have flirted with relegation or, in the case of Sharjah and one of Emirates and Dubai, are facing it at the end of this season. It is one explanation why the election was so one-sided.

Of course, winning an election is one thing; proving commitment to the task ahead is quite another and that is something Al Serkal will now have to do. Already a vice-president of the UAE National Olympic Committee and the Asian Football Confederation, he also has designs on the AFC presidency later this year.

True, it would be great to have someone from this country at the region's top footballing table, but the fear must be that his other commitments will limit his time and effectiveness within the UAE FA.

Al Serkal himself had a cryptic answer when I suggested to him after the vote he could be spreading himself too thinly, to the possible detriment of UAE football. "In Arabic we say that for every subject there is a speech so once that subject comes we will think of what we do and take the proper action," he said. Let us hope he is able to stay true to his word in the face of a significant workload.

New coach

His main task, in addition to supporting the Olympic squad as it prepares to play at London 2012, will be to head up the search for a new national coach, a critical decision as it will define his presidency. A successful appointment will mean a successful team, kudos for him and probably another term; a failure and he will face the prospect of walking the plank, as his predecessor Mohammad Al Rumaithi did after Srecko Katanec failed to deliver in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualification.

Given how crucial it is to get it right, Al Serkal may well wait until after the Olympics before he makes his decision. He said after his election that Olympic coach Mahdi Ali was under consideration but if he appoints him now and the team fails in London then straight away coach and president are under pressure; waiting until after London, especially if it goes well, will mean both men will start with their stock high, never a bad thing. The bottom line is this: the season may be coming to a close but for Yousuf Al Serkal and UAE football, the action is only just beginning.