Al Suwaiq take on Al Salam in Mazda Cup opening round

Omantel League leaders Al Suwaiq will take on new-comers Al Salam and Dhofar will meet Al Mudhaibi in the first round of Mazda Cup Championship 2017.

The draw for the knock-out tournament in the Oman Football Association’s (OFA) fixture was made at the OFA headquarters at the Seeb Sports Stadium on Monday.

Defending Mazda Cup champions Al Nahda and runnersup Al Nasr have directly qualified to the quarterfinals by virtue of their top two places in the last edition of the tournament. Al Nahda edged Al Nasr 2-1 in the final last year.

Riyadh Ali Sultan, General Manager of Towell Auto Centre, who was the chief guest for the draw ceremony, said the draw was competitive enough.

“It is a good draw and we hope for an exciting tournament this year.”

When asked about any plans to boost the profile of the tournament, Riyadh said they are interested to work on such matters provided the consent from the both boards (OFA and Towell).

“Football is the popular sport in Oman. Our association with the OFA so far has been fruitful. The tournament (Mazda Cup) have made our product popular,” he said.

Omantel League Chairman Shihab al Hosni said Mazda Cup has grown in stature and the tournament gives a good opportunity to the teams who have lost out on the His Majesty’s Cup first round matches.

“This is an important tournament in the OFA fixture. The clubs who missed out on HM Cup first round and those who are not in contention for the Omantel League will get a good opportunity in the Mazda Cup. For others it will be a chance to make a triple crown or make some Oman good impact,” Al Hosni told Observer.

Regarding efforts to increase the stature of the tournament, Al Hosni said the OFA is open to make some changes in the format in the future.

“We hope to introduce some more awards and honours for the players and spectators in the future to boost the popularity of the knockout tournament.”

The dates of the tournament will be announced in the coming days with the tournament most likely to be held throughout the month of December.