Mahdi Ali’s long association with the current Olympic football team, who will play under him at the Summer Games, make him an automatic choice to take over as national coach, according to insiders at the UAE Football Association (UAE FA).
A decision will be taken after the London Games where the UAE have been drawn in Group A alongside hosts Great Britain, Senegal and Uruguay.
“Of course he is one of the men in line for the job because of his many achievements, but there is nothing clear just yet and it could be some time before the UAE FA meet and discuss the issue and make their announcement as now is not the right time with the Olympics being so close,” the UAE FA source disclosed.
“Mahdi has been with the boys for a long time and knows them well, and his Olympic team is the one that will take over from the senior team; so in a way he is the automatic choice, but a lot could depend on him as well.”
Mahdi led the UAE to the quarter-finals of the 2009 FIFA Youth World Cup in Egypt after winning the 2008 AFC U-19 Championship and also led the Whites to the final of the Asian Games, where they lost 1-0 to Japan.
The UAE Olympic team concluded their training camp in Linz, Austria, with a 4-2 defeat of New Zealand in a friendly.
Al Ahli striker Ahmad Khalil opened the scoring and Rashed Essa added a second, but Shane Smeltz and Cameron Howieson drew the Kiwis level.
However, the UAE, who open their Olympic campaign against Uruguay next Thursday night, were not to be outdone as Hamdan Al Kamali put them back before Khalil added his second of the game.
Meanwhile, on the domestic front, former Al Wahda midfielder Magrao will turn out for Dubai Club next season after inking a one-year deal with the Al Awir outfit.
The UAE FA has asked the new management at Al Wasl Club to review the ban on goalkeeper Majed Naser and reduce his sentence by half to six months.
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