Emirati football coach Mahdi Ali seriously injured in Thailand accident

Popular sports figure treated in intensive care after bike crash

Mahdi Ali speaks to his players during the AFC Champions League match between Iran's Foolad and Shabab Al Ahli in April 2022. His club wished him well following an accident in Thailand. AFP

Mahdi Ali being cheered by his national team players in 2012. Reuters

Ali played for the UAE team in the 1980s and was its coach for 15 years. He has been head coach at Shabab Al Ahli since 2017. The National

Ali is widely respected in Gulf football. AFP

Mahdi Ali, the former head coach of the Emirati national football team, has been seriously injured in an accident in Thailand.

Ali, 57, was taken to hospital following a motorbike crash on Saturday.

He was the coach of the UAE Adnoc Pro League side Shabab Al Ahli last season.

Ghabbash Ali, a friend who is with Ali in Thailand, told Sharjah TV that Mahdi was riding a motorbike alone in Koh Samui when the crash happened.

“The details of the accident are not yet known because Mahdi was alone at the time. When we arrived to the emergency room at the hospital we saw him with fractures in the face, arm and hands,” he said.

“His condition was urgent and we needed to fly him from the island to Bangkok because the medical equipment at the small island was limited.”

“UAE’s embassy immediately provided a private plane to fly him to Bangkok. He is stable but the treatment will take time.

“At the moment he can't talk because he has several bruises in the face and he is on breathing support.”

Shabab Al Ahli said the club's thoughts were with him.

“The Shabab Al Ahli Club family wishes Mahdi Ali a safe return to the homeland and a speedy recovery,” it said.

Ali played for the UAE national team in the mid- to late-1980s and served as an assistant coach throughout the 2000s, before managing the squad from 2012 to 2017.

He led the UAE Olympic team to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in the nation's first appearance.

He coached Shabab Al Ahli, which was created from a merger of Dubai CSC, Al Shabab and Al Ahli, from 2017 up until July this year.