HH The Amir's Football Cup: Al Sadd Begins Campaign to Defend its Title

Doha, January 21 (QNA) - Al-Sadd team will start the campaign to defend its title in HH the Amir's Football Cup by facing its counterpart Muaither on February 13 for competitions of the 16th round of the 50th edition of the 2021/22 sports season. The Grand Hamad Stadium in Al Arabi Club will host the confrontation between the two teams, while in the second match Qatar and Al Shamal will meet on the same stadium. As part of the round of 16 confrontations, Al-Ahly will play Al-Markhiya on February 14 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al-Sadd Club, followed by Al-Arabi and Al-Sailiya on the same stadium. Al Duhail will face Al Khor on February 15 at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Al Gharafa, to be followed by Al Rayyans match vs Umm Salal at the same stadium. The round of 16 matches will conclude on February 16, two matches between Al Gharafa and Al Kharaitiyat at the Grand Hamad Stadium, while Al Wakrah will meet Al Shahaniya on the same stadium. Penalty kicks will be resorted to directly to decide the quarter-finalists of the tournament in the event that a tie continues in the original time, without resorting to additional times. The draw for the tournament was made last Wednesday according to the new system approved by the Qatar Football Association since the forty-eighth edition of the 2019/2020 sports season. The draw was held between 16 teams that were divided into two groups, the first of which included 8 teams who ranked first to eighth in the last season of the QNB-Qatar Stars League/ for the sports season 2020/2021, namely: Al Sadd, Al Duhail, Al Rayyan, Al Gharafa, Qatar, Al Arabi, Al Ahly and Al Wakra, while the second group included the teams who ranked from the ninth to the twelfth of the QNB Stars League for the last season, and the teams who ranked first to the third of the second division of the last season namely Al Sailiya, Umm Salal, Al Khor, Al Kharitiyat, Al Shamal, Al Shahaniya and Muaither, in addition to the qualified Al Markhiya team. from the preliminary stage. Al-Sadd holds the title of the last edition of the Emirs Football Cup, after defeating Al-Rayyan via penalty kicks in the final match that was held at Al-Thumama Stadium. Al-Sadd is also the most crowned player in the tournament with 18 titles. (QNA)