Al-Ittihad (KSA)
Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد) or Ittihad Jeddah (abbr. IJ) is a Saudi Arabian sports club based in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. Officially formed in 1928, it is the oldest surviving club in Saudi Arabia, and one of the most popular and successful.
Today, Ittihad is one of the best teams in Saudi Arabia and one of the best teams in Asia. It is hugely successful not just in football, but in basketball, water polo, table tennis, volleyball, and swimming, amongst others. In all, Ittihad has won 661 trophies. However, football remains the primary sport.
Ittihad is now based in Sahafa street, Mushrefa district, in east Jeddah, where they have a large sports complex. Senior teams play official games at the municipal sports centre, in the south of the city, while youth teams play at the club.
The club is renowned throughout the region for its fans. They are particularly famous for their loyalty and chants, which are copied by many others. The head of the Ittihad fan club, Saleh al-Qarni, even records studio versions of the year’s chants which are widely sold in Jeddah and beyond.
In December 2006, the club offered what was thought to be the most lucrative deal in Arabian football to Portuguese midfielder Luís Figo. It was said that Luís Figo will join the club on July 1st 2007 after his current contract with Inter Milan expires. However, not long after, Figo’s current club, Internazionale released report that Figo had yet to sign a contract with Al-Ittihad and will not be joining. Figo has since extended his contract at Internazionale till the end of the 2007-2008 season citing that the terms of the agreement were not kept and thus voided the contract.
Offilcal Website : www.alittihad.com.sa


