2024-04-04 19:13:56
President of the Egyptian Professional Clubs Association, Ahmed Diab, announced that he had received an offer to hold a match between Al-Ahly, the defending champion, and its rival, Zamalek, in the local league championship in Saudi Arabia.
Diab said in a statement to the “On Time Sports” channel: “There is an offer to host the Al-Ahly and Zamalek matches in the league in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on the same previously scheduled dates.”
He added: “We are still discussing and negotiating the offer, and we will reach a final decision within the next 48 hours.”
Diab pointed out that there is “a financial return for both sides of the match in the hundreds of millions (of pounds) and another amount in the millions for the rest of the league clubs,” considering that “it will be appropriate for the value of the Egyptian League product.”
Al-Ahly and Zamalek are scheduled to face each other for the third time last season, in the first leg on April 15, in a match postponed from the tenth round, before a second confrontation on June 25.
The two poles of Egyptian football previously met in Saudi Arabia on the eighth of last March, in the first Egypt Cup final to be held outside the country, and it ended with Al-Ahly crowning the title for the 39th time in its history.
Al-Ahly responded to a letter from the Professional Clubs Association with a statement, in which it said, “Al-Ahly Club is not responsible for determining the dates and stadiums on which matches are held.”
He continued: “This is a matter that concerns the Professional Clubs Association in its capacity as the one responsible for organizing and managing competitions in a manner consistent with the interest of Egyptian football, and as long as what you see in this matter serves the public good, Al-Ahly Club does not mind that.”
He added: “(This comes) with our emphasis on the need to provide sufficient time for our team’s preparations before playing any upcoming African match. As for the organizational matters resulting from holding the two matches, Al-Ahly Club is studying them and will contact you about them later.”
Al-Ahly occupies tenth place in the Egyptian League standings with 17 points, knowing that it has 8 postponed matches, while Zamalek is two points behind it in thirteenth place (11 games played).
Al-Ahly holds the record for the number of league titles with 43, ahead of its rival Zamalek, which won 14 titles, the last of which was in the 2021-2022 season.
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2024-04-04 19:13:56