In the interpretation of these Statutes, the following terms shall have the meanings so defined unless the context requires otherwise. Words importing the singular shall include the plural, and vice versa, words importing the masculine include the feminine and words importing persons shall include bodies corporate. Any definitions not provided hereunder but contained within FIFA and AFC Statutes, Regulations and Codes are incorporated into the SAFF Statutes where appropriate.
AFC Competitions: Continental football competitions organized by the AFC.
AFC: The Asian Football Confederation.
Organized Football: Association Football organized under the auspices of FIFA, AFC and SAFF, or authorized by them.
Board of Directors: The executive body of the Federation.
Club: A sports institution with a legal entity or a company officially licensed by the Authority to participate in Football which is a member of the Federation or member of a League that enters at least one team in a competition.
CAS: The international Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Electoral Committee: The body responsible for organizing and supervising elections and procedures of their approval at SAFF level.
Electoral List: A list that consists of eleven (11) candidates for the Board of Directors, namely the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, and the members, who are elected together.
Federation Competitions: Football competitions and tournaments organized and supervised by the Federation, including futsal, except a professional League competition, which is organized by a professional League.
Federation: Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF).
FIFA: Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football).
General Assembly: The legislative body and the supreme authority in the Federation.
General Secretariat: The administrative body of the Federation.
IFAB: The International Football Association Board.
Judicial Committees: The Disciplinary and Ethics Committee and the Appeals Committee at SAFF.
Kingdom: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Laws of the Game: The laws of Association Football issued by IFAB in accordance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Statutes.
League: An organization with a legal and independent personality that is subordinate to SAFF.
Member: A natural or legal person that has been admitted into membership by the General Assembly.
Ministry: The Ministry of Sport.
Officials: All members of the Board of Directors, committees, referees and assistants, coaches and assistants, officials of technical, medical, and administrative affairs in the Federation and the League of professional clubs, non-professional clubs, and others.
Ordinary Courts: State courts that consider and adjudicate public and private disputes.
Participation License: A license issued to Clubs to authorize them to participate in a professional league.
Player: Football player officially registered with SAFF.
Professional Leagues: Leagues that are administratively, financially, and organizationally independent, subordinate to SAFF, responsible for organizing a particular league or competition.
Saudi Sports Arbitration Center: The judicial body that has exclusive jurisdiction over hearing and/or adjudicating and/or mediating in all sports disputes and/or disputes related to sports after exhaustion of all internal channels of appeal within SAFF according to these Statutes and its regulations.
Standing Committee: An advisory body to the Board of Directors in the performance of its duties formed based on terms of reference contained in special regulations abiding by the Statutes of SAFF.
Statutes: The Statutes of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
UAFA: Union of Arab Football Associations.
WAFF: West Asian Football Federation.
1) The Federation: a special sports body with an independent legal entity, established in accordance with the Kingdom's laws on 02/02/1376 AH, corresponding to 06/09/1956 AD, for an indefinite period, and exercising its functions and powers vested in it by virtue of these Statutes and the related regulations in the Kingdom. The Federation is entitled to establish a company or companies belonging to it, in accordance with the laws in force in the Kingdom, to enhance its commercial and investment activities.
2) The headquarters of the Federation is in the city of Riyadh and may not be relocated to another city except under a resolution by the General Assembly. SAFF may open one or more branches in KSA regions.
3) The Federation is a member of WAFF, UAFA, AFC, and FIFA.
4) The Federation flag is the flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
5) The Federation logo is a falcon head, a football, and a palm in a ball-shaped frame.
6) The abbreviation of the Federation's name in Arabic is ساف, and in English is SAFF.
7) The logo and the abbreviation are registered trademarks with the official authorities in the Kingdom.
The Federation has the following objectives:
1) To deepen national belonging and to consolidate the national identity among the citizens of the Kingdom through the sport of football.
2) To continuously improve and promote the game of football and the development of its components, in light of its unified human, cultural and educational values.
3) To spread the practice of football in light of human, cultural and educational values.
4) To develop the game of football and its complementary elements continuously within the Kingdom, to ensure respect for the Laws of the Game and to prevent violations thereof.
5) To organize football competitions at the local and national levels, in accordance with the principles of transparent competition, fair play, sportsmanship and human values.
6) To prepare regulations for the practice of football activities and to ensure the implementation thereof.
7) To protect its interests and the interests of its Members.
8) To comply fully and at all times with the regulations, statutes, circulars and decisions of FIFA, AFC and WAFF and the decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) passed on appeal and the Saudi Sports Arbitration Centre, as well as the Laws of the Game issued by The IFAB and to ensure that these are also respected by the Members and officials of SAFF.
9) To strengthen relations with local, regional, continental, and international institutions and bodies to achieve the honorable representation of the Kingdom in the game of football.
10) To manage local and international sports relations related to football in all its forms.
11) To host competitions at the regional, continental and international levels, related to football.
12) To promote integrity, ethics and fair play with a view to preventing all methods or practices, such as corruption, doping or match manipulation, which might jeopardise the integrity of matches, competitions, players, officials and clubs or give rise to abuse of football.
13) To respect the laws and regulations in force in the Kingdom. 14) To organize studies, research, conferences, and workshops about football and its various related affairs.
15) To promote the development of women’s football and the full participation of women at all levels of football governance.
16) To promote and strengthen good governance principles and practices at national level and encourage its Members to adopt their own good governance principles.
1) The Federation is neutral in all political and religious matters.
2) The Members of the Federation shall also be neutral in matters of politics and religion and shall ensure that their own members remain neutral.
3) The Federation shall remain independent and shall avoid any form of undue political interference. The Federation shall manage its affairs independently and shall ensure that its own affairs are not influenced by any third parties.
4) All forms of discrimination are strictly prohibited, whether against a state, a particular person or a group of persons, on an ethnic, sexual, linguistic, religious, political, disability or other grounds, and shall be subject to punishment by suspension or exclusion
The Federation aims to develop and promote friendly relations as follows:
1) By establishing, developing and promoting friendly relations between the Federation and its Members, Clubs, Officials, Players and within the community, for humanitarian purposes.
2) Every person or organization involved in football must adhere to these Statutes, regulations, principles of fair play, values of loyalty, integrity, and sportsmanship.
3) The Federation shall establish the institutional means to resolve any internal dispute that may arise among its Members, Clubs, Officials and Players.
1) The Board of Directors shall regulate the conditions and transfers of the Players participating in the competitions of the Federation and the Professional League in accordance with the regulations and laws of the Federation and the regulations of FIFA.
2) Players are registered by the Federation in accordance with the governing regulations, with a commitment not to conflict with these Statutes and the binding regulations of FIFA.
1) The Federation and each of its Members shall play association football in accordance with the Laws of the Game of the IFAB, which is the sole authority to enact and amend the Laws of the Game.
2) The Federation and each of its Members shall play futsal in accordance with the laws of the game issued by FIFA. Only FIFA may lay down and alter the futsal laws of the game.
3) The Federation and each of its Members shall play beach soccer in accordance with the beach soccer laws of the game issued by FIFA. Only FIFA may lay down and alter the beach soccer laws of the game.
1) All Bodies (as defined in Article 20 of these Statutes) and Officials of the Federation shall observe the Statutes, regulations, directives, decisions and the Code of Ethics of FIFA, of AFC and the Federation in their activities.
2) Every person and organization involved in the game of association football, futsal and beach soccer in the Kingdom is obliged to observe the Statutes and regulations of FIFA, of AFC, the Federation, and any other relevant statutes, as well as the principles of fair play, loyalty, integrity, and sportsmanship.