There are organizational concerns about the regularity of matches, after turbulent seasons in terms of schedule congestion, with the start of… Egyptian League Football that charts the features of a new exceptional season.
The 65th edition of the Egyptian League kicked off last night, Monday, September 18, amid promises from the Professional Clubs Association – the body that runs the competition for the third consecutive season – that the season would proceed regularly and with a larger audience attendance than last season (10,000 spectators per match), despite the schedule. Crowded.
He will play for a club Al-Ahly Pyramids are competing in the African Champions League, while Zamalek and Future are playing in the African Confederation Cup. The two terms will continue if the Egyptian clubs reach the final rounds, until the end of May 2024.
Al-Ahly will also play in the new “Africa League” tournament from October 20 to November 11, and participate in the Club World Cup from December 12 to 22.
As for Egypt national teamIt is linked to participating in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers starting next November, and in the African Cup of Nations finals in Côte d’Ivoire in January and February 2024, while the Olympic team is preparing to participate in the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024.
Ahmed Diab, President of the Egyptian Professional Clubs Association, told Agence France-Presse: “We succeeded in ending last season at a good time, which allowed the clubs to have a passive rest and establish a preparation period. The new season begins on September 18 and ends on July 30, 2024. The schedule will be regular, despite its congestion. Which forces us to press the matches.”
The Club Association rejected several proposals to hold the season in a two-group or single-round system, due to the large number of ties awaiting clubs and teams this season, and insisted that the league be held in its usual system of 34 rounds between the 18 participating clubs.
Increased fears
Concerns have already increased with the Competitions Committee announcing the schedule for the first round of the competition, which ends at the beginning of April 2024.
Followers wondered about the ability of the Club Association to fulfill its pledge and end the tournament by the end of July, especially with the association announcing the establishment of a new tournament called the “Super Clubs of Champions” that brings together four clubs to replace the Egyptian Super Cup in its old form, not to mention the Egyptian Cup tournament for last season, which It stopped at the semi-finals and the Egyptian Cup for the new season, the date of which has not been revealed yet.
Amer Hussein, head of the Egyptian Federation’s Competitions Committee, refuted these fears, and said: “The first round will end in April due to the many stops, due to Al-Ahly’s ties to the African League and the Club World Cup, and the national team to the African Cup of Nations; but after that, the matter will be more regular and will enable us to finish the competition in End of July.”
At a time when the Egyptian League clubs are providing good results in the continental championships, especially Al-Ahly, which holds the record for the number of times it has won the CAF Champions League title, Diab confirms that the Egyptian League is number 13 on the list of the best in the world.
He said during the league draw ceremony in the Administrative Capital: “We have four of the seven best clubs in Africa, namely Al-Ahly, Zamalek, Pyramids, and Future, according to the African Confederation’s classification at the end of last season.”
While the number of spectators increased from six thousand to ten thousand, he added that the association submitted to the responsible authorities a request for fans to attend at half the capacity of the stadiums, “provided that the approval reaches the full capacity for fans to attend in the second round of the competition’s life; but we hope that the project will be approved with the support of institutions.” “The complete state is what gives us hope.”
