TheLebanese Football Association (LFA;Arabic:الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم,romanized: Al-Ittiḥād Al-Lubnānī Likurat Al-Qadam;French:Fédération Libanaise de Football) is the governing body ofassociation football inLebanon. Formed in 1933, it is a member of bothFIFA and theAFC. It is also one of the founding members of theWAFF, joining in its inception in 2001.
In 1931Khalil Hilmi, a member ofRiyadi Beirut, attempted to form a federation.[1] However, the proposal failed asNahda opposed its formation.[1] On 22 March 1933, representatives of thirteen football clubs gathered in the Minet El Hosn district inBeirut to form the Lebanese Football Association (LFA).[2] Hussein Sejaan was the LFA's first president.[3] Lebanon was one of the first nations in theMiddle East to establish an administrative body forassociation football.[a][4] The LFA joinedFIFA in 1936 and theAFC in 1964.[5] In 2001, the LFA joined theWAFF as one of its founding members.[6]
In 1985, in the midst of theLebanese Civil War, the LFA was divided into two administrations: Western, headed byNabil Al Raei, and Eastern, headed byHamid Khoury.[7] FIFA froze Lebanon's membership until 5 February 1987, when FIFA presidentSepp Blatter sent atelex letter to the LFA recognizing the elections of 2 May 1985, which had elected Al Raei as the LFA president.[7]
^عساف, فراس ابو.لمحة عن الإتحاد [Lebanese Football Federation].الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم (in Arabic). Archived fromthe original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved20 December 2018.