Arabian Gulf Super Cup pushed back to January

The customary curtainraiser for the season, the Arabian Gulf Super Cup scheduled to take place in Egypt next month, has been rescheduled to January 2018 to promote it better.

The match between 2016/17 Arabian Gulf League champions Al Jazira and 2017 President’s Cup winners Al Wahda was slated to be staged in Cairo on September 15.

No date has been set for the outing but Yousuf Mohammad Rasool Al Khoury, vice-president of the execuive office of the Pro League Committee (PLC), explained that the PLC received a request from promoters Presentation Sports to reschedule the match to January 2018.

It will be the second time that the Super Cup is held outside the UAE following last season’s encounter between Al Jazira and Al Ahli, which saw Al Ahli triumph 2-1. Like last season, the winners take home Dh1 million while the runner-up will be richer by Dh500,000.

Arabian Gulf League

The Pro League Committee has also announced changes to fixture times for matchweek 1 and 2 of the Arabian Gulf League following the rescheduling of the Arabian Gulf Super Cup.

Matchweek 1 will now take place on the September 15 and 16.

The opening day will witness three matches — Emirates face Al Dhafra at 5.30pm while Al Jazira host Ajman ten minutes later and Sharjah welcome Al Nasr at 8.30pm to round off the day’s matches.

Matchweek 1 continues with two afternoon matches on the second day; Shabab Al Ahli Dubai face Hatta at 5.35pm while Al Wahda face Dibba at 5.40pm.

Al Ain welcome Al Wasl to Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium at 8.30pm to conclude the matchweek.

Matchweek 2 takes place over three days between September 21 and 23 with two matches on each day.