The UAE Federation ends its contract with Cosmin and promises to announce the alternative soon

In a decision that was expected, the Board of Directors of the UAE Football Association announced the termination of the contract with the Romanian coach Olario Cosmin, the technical director of the "White" team, along with his assistant, while thanking them for the efforts exerted during their period of work with the national team. The federation confirmed in its official statement that it will unveil the identity of the new technical staff in the coming days, as part of the team's preparations for the upcoming important participations. These include the 2026 Gulf Cup, the 2027 Asian Cup, as well as the first edition of the 2027 Asian Nations League. The UAE federation had assigned the task of training the national team to Cosmén in April 2025, under a two-year contract, as he joined "White" from Sharjah Club after the end of his contract with the club, succeeding Portuguese coach Paolo Pinto in this position. Despite the track record of the Romanian coach at the level of clubs in the country The UAE, where he achieved remarkable achievements with Al Ain Clubs, Al Ahli Youth and Sharjah, but he did not succeed in leading the UAE team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which led to the decision to end his contract with him. Topping the list of candidates to succeed Kuzmin, according to expectations, is the name of Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic, who currently leads Croatia in the 2026 World Cup, and who has extensive knowledge of Emirati football due to his successful experience with Al Ain, making him a strong candidate to take charge of Al Abyad training.