Arabian Gulf Super Cup to go ahead as planned but no decision made on season start

Al Nasr, blue, and Al Ain will contest the Arabian Gulf Super Cup on Saturday, August 15. Annas Kanni / Al Ittihad

The Pro League Committee on Tuesday confirmed the UAE domestic football season will start as scheduled with the Super Cup on Saturday between Al Ain and Al Nasr, putting an end to the uncertainties surrounding the coming season’s calendar.

Last week, PLC officials said they would be drawing up a fresh schedule for the season following the August 3 announcement in Kuwait to postpone December’s Gulf Cup to next year.

A rescheduling had become necessary since a month-long break in December-January had been earmarked for the seven-nation tournament, but with recent reports claiming the decision to postpone the Gulf Cup could be reversed, the PLC had to hold back from announcing any changes.

With the uncertainty over the dates of the Gulf Cup still far from settled and the Super Cup only days away, the PLC have decided to follow their original schedule. Confirmation of that has come through a press release about a “coordination meeting” between the football officials and the police and security services for Saturday’s match.

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The meeting, held at the venue for the match, Al Jazira’s Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, was chaired by Suhail Al Areefi, the PLC’s chief executive, and “attended by representatives of Abu Dhabi Police, the private security firm tasked with stewarding the match, and representatives of both participating clubs — Al Ain and Al Nasr — and the host club, Al Jazira”.

“Through today’s meeting we aimed to discuss all safety and security matters related to Saturday’s match, including the procedures to ensure smooth entry to the stadium for fans, and the types of banners and props permitted in the stadium for fans to support and cheer on their teams,” Al Areefi said.

“We are keen to coordinate thoroughly with all parties, and this meeting follows on from an earlier meeting in July during which various detailed technical elements were discussed and agreed upon.”

The confirmation must have come as a relief to the officials at the two clubs, Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ain and President’s Cup winners Al Nasr, but Abdullah Bu Amim, the Nasr chief executive, said his team had never allowed the uncertainty over the Super Cup dates to distract them.

“We had prepared our pre-season plans as per the programme provided to us by the PLC earlier,” said Bu Amim, whose team returned home yesterday from their pre-season camp in Austria.

“Our preparations were focused on preparing the team for the Super Cup, with the goal being to get a positive result. We did not think about anything else — all that speculation about the postponement of the new season to September.

“It would have been nicer if the Super Cup was held in September, given the difficulties of the conditions we are going to face playing in August, but we would like to emphasise that Al Nasr club stand behind the PLC and the UAE Football Association, and support any decision they take because we fully understand that the needs of the national team are paramount.”

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