On 9 December Syria were drawn in a 2027 Asian Cup qualification group with Myanmar, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Officials at the ceremony in Kuala Lumpur could have had lengthy conversations about how all four’s football fortunes have been damaged and held back by their respective leaders and governments. This time, however, there was even more than usual to discuss. Hours earlier, Bashar al-Assad had fled Damascus for Moscow, ending a dictatorship that had ruled for more than 50 years. As in other fields, there is a sense of uncertainty in football but also an optimism that there may be better times ahead and that the sport can, perhaps, help unite a nation that has gone through so much.
The civil war that started in 2011 has resulted in the estimated deaths of more than 500,000 people and the displacement of many more. During that time football still functioned but reflected the divisions in wider society. “As the nation fractured, so did the national team,” Bernd Stange, Syria’s coach from 2018-19, says. “There were players who fought for certain groups with weapons in their hands, and others who were staunchly opposed to the ruling regime. Unfortunately, as a foreigner, I was not able to focus solely on football and unite the team.”
Now there may be a chance. Hours after Assad left the Syria Football Association announced on social media it was changing the national team’s logo to remove the red of Assad and the old ruling Ba’ath party for the green favoured by independence movements. There was a photo showing smiling players in the new shirts. “Our new national team uniform,” the federation wrote. “The first historic change to happen in the history of Syrian sports, far from nepotism, favouritism and corruption.”
Players shared the joy. The midfielder Ammar Ramadan posted on Instagram: “My country, Syria, is being freed. Resistance to oppression is inevitable. Like it or not. Bashar is a war criminal. He has also upped and left. Coward. My happiness is for the people. My people …”
Stange is still in touch with some of his former players. “I am just as excited as my Syrian friends and am happy about every phone call from Damascus,” he says. “Hopefully the country will develop in a direction where everyone can live freely, peacefully and well. It is a proud country with a great history, and the people are tired of the last decade and deserve peace.”
Three years before Stange took the Syria job, he was on the opposite bench as Singapore hosted their 2015 World Cup qualifier. The game made headlines after the then Syria coach, Fajr Ibrahim, and the player Osama Omari turned up wearing T-shirts with pictures of Assad. “We are proud because Mr Bashar is our president,” Ibrahim said. “So proud, because this man fights all the terrorist groups in the world; he fights for you also. He is the best man in the world.” He added that the dictator was a keen football fan and supporter of the team. Much more would have been made of it had Syria reached the World Cup but they were eliminated in the playoffs.
Stange says he did not experience interference from the very top. “I didn’t meet any politicians during my time as national coach.” However, he felt as though the “enthusiastic and overly emotional” then president of the federation “constantly interfered in my area of responsibility”. He recalls the president “insisted on sitting on the coach’s bench and was almost impossible to control. I had never experienced anything like that before in my coaching career – it really annoyed me.”
It remains to be seen how the federation goes about its business in this new era but there is no doubt that there is a lot of hard work to be done. The domestic game is in a mess owing to the fighting, the damage to stadiums, energy shortages and much more. Money in the league, never abundant, has gone. “The quality of the league is not good enough to achieve anything internationally,” Stange says. “Coach training has stagnated for over a decade. Pro licence courses have been impossible until now. Nevertheless, many are trying to keep football alive with commitment and minimal pay.”
The league has been on hold owing to outside events, not for the first time, in recent years. It will be down to the national team to set the tone, starting in March’s Asian Cup qualifiers. The big question has been if/when official international games can take place on home soil. It may take some time. “Syria cannot be a host … it has been over 10 years now,” Windsor John, the Asian Football Confederation’s general secretary, said after the draw was made. “So, we cannot see any matches being held there because it does not have the infrastructure either. Perhaps, in the future … we do not know. But for matches next year, I feel there is no change to their status as a team who have to play at a neutral venue.”
When, if, there is some semblance of stability and normality in Syria, Stange is sure that it could bring the rise of another Asian power. “Syria can reach the level of Iran, Iraq or Australia,” he says. “Winning a game in front of a hellish crowd in Aleppo or Latakia could be a mission impossible for any Asian team.”
