Doha: The new Qatar Stars League season that kicks off on August 4 will be one of the best ever, top Qatar Stars League (QSL) official Hassan Rabia al-Kuwari has said.
The glitzy opening ceremony on Wednesday saw top officials of the Qatar Stars League Management (QSLM), team players, club coaches and members of the local media among the attendees.
The QNB Stars League will kick off a few weeks earlier than usual to accommodate the Qatar national team’s international assignments that includes the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 to be played in January next year.
QSL’s Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Ali Ahmed al-Kuwari said: “The 2018-19 football season will be an exceptional period of nine months as the world’s attention switches from the FIFA World Cup in Russia towards Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts.
“This makes us strive further to promote the country and the FIFA World Cup that will be held here. We’ll work in an integrated manner with the Qatar Football Association and Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy since we’re all working as a team in order to present the best World Cup ever.
“We hope that the new QNB Stars League season will present the best-ever technical level of football in the way the teams play their matches. We also hope that the passion we have for football is also reflected in the coming weeks, months and years before the World Cup.”
The season’s opening press conference was also attended by QSL’s Competitions Department Director Ahmed al-Adsani, Head of Technical at Al Kass Sports Channel Turki al-Subaie and Mubarak Bilal, who represented the Ministry of Interior.
All 12 clubs are nearing the end of their pre-season training camps away from Qatar and most of them camped in various countries across Europe.
Al Gharafa are currently playing a friendly tournament in Oman where Al Ahli are also training for the new season.
A number of sides have already announced their new arrivals on the coaching and player rosters.
Al Duhail - who have signed new coach Nabil Maloul - will launch the new season as the defending champions, having won three trophies last season.
The 12 teams are Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan, Al Gharafa, Al Khor, Al Kharaitiyat, Al Arabi, Umm Salal, Al Ahli, Qatar SC, Al Sailiya and newcomers Al Shahaniya.
A few of the top names in the new season include Dutch star Wesley Sneijder, Korea Republic's Jung Woo-young, Ghana’s Kwame Karikari, Brazil’s Diego Jardel, Morocco’s Rachid Tiberkanine and Ivory Coast’s Yannick Sagbo.
The matches in the first rounds of the new season will be played at the Khalifa International Stadium and the Al Sadd Stadium - two venues with state-of-the-art cooling technology.
The 2018 Sheikh Jassim Cup between Duhail and Al Rayyan on August will kick off the season.
Sources: QNB Stars League, Qatar Football Association
Source: the-afc.com