Soba named coach of Under-17s; Niya takes charge of national futsal team

Sobah Mohamed Ibrahim (Soba) has been appointed Coach for the National Under-17 Football Team.

Football Association of Maldives (FAM) also appointed Ahmed Niyaz (Niya) as coach for the National Futsal Team. 

Both were selected from amongst a pool of applicants. 

Under Soba's coaching, the Under-17 team will first prepare for the Under-17 SAFF Championship set to be held in Sri Lanka next month. 

Soba has previously served as Assistant Coach for the Under-23 national team as part of former National Team Coach Ali Suzain's coaching team. 

He most recently worked at New Radiant, leading them in the recent League Cup held by FAM. 

Early last year, Victory Sports Club was raised back to the First Division under Soba's coaching. He also coached Club Green Streets to qualify for first division in 2016. 

Soba also completed the A License Coaching Course held by FAM last year. 

Niya also completed the AFC A License Football Coaching Course and holds a Futsal Level 1 Coaching Certificate. 

He played for the MACL team is 2007 and 2008 in the Club Maldives Futsal Cup. 

Niya, a former midfielder on the National Team, gave up professional playing in 2018, after which he has served in many capacities for futsal. 

He has coached teams from STO, Bml, MPL and Aviation in Club Maldives Cup since 2009. 

In the past two years, he was the MWSC coach for Club Maldives Cup. 

Under Niya's coaching, the National Futsal Team will first play the Asian Cup Qualifying in Myanmar next month.