Elijah Ari

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Elijah Ari

| image =

| full_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|11|6|df=y}}

| birth_place = Ghana

| height = 1.78 m

| position = Defender

| currentclub = Up Country Lions

| clubnumber =

| years1 = 2007–2010

| clubs1 = Dordoi Bishkek

| caps1 =

| goals1 =

| years2 = 2010

| clubs2 = Vakhsh Qughonteppa

| caps2 =

| goals2 =

| years3 = 2011

| clubs3 = Regar-TadAZ

| caps3 =

| goals3 =

| years4 = 2012

| clubs4 = Energetik Dushanbe

| caps4 =

| goals4 =

| years5 = 2013–2015

| clubs5 = Regar-TadAZ

| caps5 =

| goals5 =

| years6 = 2015

| clubs6 = Bowsher Club

| caps6 =

| goals6 =

| years7 = 2018

| clubs7 = Akademija Osh

| caps7 = 25

| goals7 =

| years8 = 2019

| clubs8 = Sumida Ulaanbaatar

| caps8 = 11

| goals8 = 7

| years9 = 2020

| clubs9 = Dushanbe-83

| caps9 = 0

| goals9 = 0

| years10 = 2021–

| clubs10 = Up Country Lions

| caps10 = 0

| goals10 = 0

| nationalyears1 = 2013–2014

| nationalteam1 = Kyrgyzstan

| nationalcaps1 = 8

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| club-update = 19 March 2021

| nationalteam-update =

}}

Elijah Ari (born 6 November 1987), sometimes also known as Elijah Aryee, is a professional footballer who plays as a defender, for Up Country Lions in the Sri Lanka Champions League. Born in Ghana, he moved to Central Asia in 2007, and played three seasons in Kyrgyzstan for Dordoi Bishkek. From 2013 he represented the Kyrgyzstan national team internationally, making eight appearances in two years.

Club career

The Ghanaian born Ari started his career in Dordoi Bishkek where he played three seasons and acquired Kyrgyzstani citizenship. He then spent one season with Vakhsh Qughonteppa in neighboring Tajikistan. He then played for Bowsher Club, in Oman.

On 31 March 2020, Ari was announced as part of Dushanbe-83's squad for the 2020 season.{{cite web |title=Заявка ФК «Душанбе-83» (Душанбе) для участия в сезоне-2020 |url=https://twitter.com/fft_official/status/1244983718864916487 |website=twitter.com/ |publisher=Football Federation of Tajikistan Twitter |accessdate=31 March 2020 |language=Russian |date=31 March 2020}} Ari left Dushanbe-83 during the 2020 season's summer transfer window, having not played for the club.{{cite web |title=ЛЕТНЕЕ МЕЖСЕЗОНЬЕ ТАДЖИКИСТАНА-2020: КТО КОГО ПРИОБРЕЛ? |url=http://fft.tj/letnee-mezhsezone-chempionata-tadzhikistana-2020-kto-kogo-priobrel/ |website=fft.tj/ |publisher=Football Federation Tajikistan |accessdate=15 August 2020 |language=Russian |date=7 August 2020}}

International career

Ari has eight national appearances for Kyrgyzstan to his name.{{NFT player|52607|name=Elijah Ariye |accessdate=10 September 2014}}

Career statistics

National team	Year	Apps
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
rowspan="2"\|Kyrgyzstan \|2013	5	0
2014	3	0
colspan="2"\|Total	8	0