Abu Dhabi: The next four years promise to be both hugely exciting and challenging for Marwan Bin Galita, who on Saturday was elected as the new UAE Football Association (UAEFA) president until 2020.

The UAE will host the 2019 Asian Cup and remain in with a chance of qualifying for their second World Cup finals after their Italia 1990 appearance as they enter the third and final qualification round for Russia 2018 in September.

But on a more domestic level, Bin Galita must address poor Arabian Gulf League attendances and ensure the grassroots game is enhanced to build a sustainable future for UAE football.

Bin Galita’s election mandate, entitled ‘Developing together’, recognises these issues and pledges to address them through a number of initiatives.

Firstly, the 44-year-old former Al Nasr chairman is keen to engage with Emirati football fans and wants to organise brainstorming sessions and workshops.

Young people’s views will be of particular importance, he insists, as they represent the future. To this end, an ideas bank will be established, allowing youngsters the chance to air their views on what UAE football needs to do to improve.

Bin Ghalita, who has degrees in business administration and surveying engineering, plans to stage more community events to help foster a love of the ‘Beautiful Game’ and identify talent. He also wants to introduce greater financial rewards for clubs competing in the often marginalised President’s Club from the quarter-finals onwards, in a bid to increase interest in the competition.

In turn, a more successful tournament would, he hopes, attract more sponsors to ensure it remains commercially viable.

A UAE FA research and technical data centre is also on the agenda to keep pace with global football developments. The information gleaned would then help players of local clubs and the national team improve their techniques, Bin Ghalita hopes.

But perhaps Bin Ghalita’s most bold move in the offing is his vow to allocate 25 per cent of the UAE FA budget to struggling amateur clubs.

On a macro level, he is adamant that the UAE national team will be supported in any way possible in their quest to reach the 2018 World Cup and win the 2019 Asian Cup on home soil.

In terms of the AGL, Bin Galita says he will recruit specialists to examine whether the decision to encrypt television broadcasts of games this season and make them pay-per-view is working.

Bin Galita, who won 19 of the 34 votes cast by the UAE’s professional clubs as against incumbent Yousuf Al Sarkal’s 15 votes, is also eager to expand the 14-team AGL to 16 clubs, with the possibility to increase further. However, he stresses the amateur leagues below the top tier would need to be expanded first.

Within the UAE FA, Bin Galita says administrative procedures will be streamlined and the number of committees reduced to help the body become more efficient and modern.

A wide-ranging and ambitious manifesto, then, but Bin Galita will do well to emulate the myriad successes of his predecessor Yousuf Al Sarkal.

In his two terms in office since 2004, the 57-year-old oversaw two Gulf Cup triumphs in 2007 and 2013 for the UAE national team, an Olympic debut for the Under-23 team at London 2012 and a third-place finish at last year’s Asian Cup.