The UAE Falcons are expected to play their next game in late May, although an opponent hasn’t been confirmed yet.
If the Dubai Stallions’ Ali Al Hassona takes to the field for the Falcons, he will have the unique distinction of having represented three countries at three different sports.
The 35-year-old has enjoyed a professional career in basketball, moving around leagues in Britain, Qatar and Bahrain, where he was an international with Iraq before picking up caps for Jordan in rugby.
Now he wants to be capped for the UAE at American football.
“That’s going to be my grand finale,” Al Hassona told Sport360°.
Before the Iraqi can think about playing for the UAE, there’s the more pressing matter of the Stallions winning their first Desert Bowl.
After losing in last year’s final, the Stallions are desperate to get their name on the trophy this time round.
Al Hassona has taken a roundabout route to get to the Desert Bowl this week. Basketball has always been the sport he excelled at the most, representing Iraq and enjoying career highlights like being the team’s top scorer in the King Abdullah Championship in Jordan back in 2007.
The 35-year-old’s move to American football actually came as a result of, if anything, being too good at basketball.
“I was curious about American football,” Al Hassona said. “I didn’t know much about the game, but the more exposure I got to the US the more that curiosity increased.
“But I got fed up playing pick-up basketball in Dubai, everyone was on a different wavelength and their defence was awful and it would make me angry, so angry I had to stop. I stopped playing and I was just checking out the website and thought it’s time to give this a try.”
Things have gone swimmingly since. Al Hassona has become a crucial member of the Stallions and was on the scoresheet during his team’s win over the Al Ain Desert Foxes in the Desert Bowl semifinal.
The near-future will decide just how much of a happy switch it has been.
