2017 Arab Club Championship

2017 Arab Club Championship
Tournament details
Host countryEgypt (from group stage onwards)
DatesQualifying:
14 September 2016 – 4 March 2017
Competition proper:
22 July 2017 – 6 August 2017
Teams20 (from 2 confederations) (from 18 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsTunisia Espérance de Tunis (3rd title)
Runners-upJordan Al-Faisaly
Tournament statistics
Matches played36
Goals scored83 (2.31 per match)
Attendance755,000 (20,972 per match)
Top scorer(s)Morocco Mohamed Fouzair
(3 goals)

The 2017 Arab Club Championship was the 27th season of the Arab World's inter-club football tournament organised by UAFA, and the first season since it was renamed from the UAFA Club Cup to the Arab Club Championship. The competition was won by Tunisian club Espérance de Tunis, who defeated Jordanian side Al-Faisaly 3–2 after extra time in the final to secure a joint-record third title.

Allocation of entries

The following team entries allocation was announced by the Union of Arab Football Associations on 20 June 2016. Each association was given entry either to the qualifying play-off or to the group stage based on the FIFA World Ranking of the associations on 2 June 2016. Only teams who were champions or runners-up of either their nation's league or one of their nation's cup competitions were allowed to participate in the tournament.

Participation for 2017 Arab Club Championship
Allocated group stage slot(s)
Allocated qualifying play-off slot
Did not participate
Notes
  1. ^
    Qatar were allocated one group stage slot, but chose not to participate due to scheduling difficulties with other tournaments.
  2. ^
    Kuwait were allocated one qualifying play-off slot, but could not participate due to FIFA's suspension of its football association.
  3. ^
    Yemen were allocated one qualifying play-off slot, but did not participate due to the suspension of footballing activity in the country.
  4. ^
    As the tournament's hosts (from the group stage onwards), Egypt were allocated two group stage slots as opposed to one, and Algeria were therefore allocated just one group stage slot rather than two.
  5. ^
    Libya were allocated one qualifying play-off slot, but did not participate due to the suspension of footballing activity in the country.

Teams

The following 20 teams from 18 associations entered the competition.

Notes
  1. ^
    Al-Wahda were a late replacement for Al-Ain (2015–16 UAE Pro-League runners-up and 2015–16 UAE President's Cup runners-up), who decided to withdraw from the tournament.
  2. ^
    Not including Al-Faisaly's appearance in the cancelled 1990 edition.

Venues

The following three venues were chosen to host all matches from the group stage onwards.

Alexandria Alexandria
Borg El Arab Stadium Alexandria Stadium
Capacity: 86,000 Capacity: 13,660
Borg El Arab Stadium Alexandria Stadium
Cairo
Al Salam Stadium
Capacity: 30,000
Al Salam Stadium

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.

Stage Round Date
Qualifying play-off Round 1 14 September 2016 – 4 March 2017
Round 2
Play-off round
Group stage Matchday 1 22 July – 6 August 2017
Matchday 2
Matchday 3
Knockout stage Semi-finals
Final

Qualifying play-off

The qualifying play-off was held between 14 September 2016 and 4 March 2017. The three winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the nine direct entrants.

Preliminary round 1

Asia Zone
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Riffa Bahrain 1–5 Lebanon Al-Ahed 0–1 1–4
Africa Zone
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts DJI DEK VOL
1 Djibouti ASAS Djibouti Télécom[Note DJI] (H) 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 — 1–1 0–0
2 Somalia Dekedaha 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 — — 0–0
3 Comoros Volcan Club 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 — — —
Source: UAFA
(H) Hosts
Notes
  1. ^
    ASAS Djibouti Télécom qualified via a drawing of lots.

Preliminary round 2

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Asia Zone
Al-Ahed Lebanon 3–0 Palestine Shabab Al-Khalil 1–0 2–0
Africa Zone
ASAS Djibouti Télécom Djibouti 1–2 Sudan Al-Merrikh 1–1 0–1

Play-off round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Asia Zone
Al-Jaish Syria 0–1 Iraq Naft Al-Wasat 0–0 0–1
Al-Ahed Lebanon 6–1 Oman Fanja 2–1 4–0
Africa Zone
FC Tevragh-Zeina Mauritania 2–3 Sudan Al-Merrikh 0–1 2–2

Group stage

From the group stage onwards, the tournament was held in Egypt in the cities of Cairo and Alexandria. Twelve teams participated in the group stage, divided into three groups. The draw for the groups took place on 5 May 2017 in Cairo. The top team of each group along with the best runner-up advanced to the semi-finals.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Jordan Al-Faisaly 3 3 0 0 4 1 +3 9 Advance to knockout stage
2 Egypt Al-Ahly 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
3 Algeria NA Hussein Dey 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
4 United Arab Emirates Al-Wahda 3 0 0 3 1 6 −5 0
Source: Soccerway
NA Hussein Dey Algeria2–0United Arab Emirates Al-Wahda
Addadi 11'
Gasmi 45+1'		 Report
Al Salam Stadium, Cairo
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)
Al-Ahly Egypt0–1Jordan Al-Faisaly
Report Al-Rawashdeh 55'
Al Salam Stadium, Cairo
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)
Al-Faisaly Jordan1–0Algeria NA Hussein Dey
Mendy 52' Report
Al Salam Stadium, Cairo
Attendance: 2,000
Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (Saudi Arabia)
Al-Wahda United Arab Emirates0–2Egypt Al-Ahly
Report 32' Barakat
84' Mohareb
Al Salam Stadium, Cairo
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Youssef Essrayri (Tunisia)
Al-Wahda United Arab Emirates1–2Jordan Al-Faisaly
Batna 41' Report 76' Łukasz
90+2' Zuway
Al Salam Stadium, Cairo
Referee: Mohammed Darwish (Lebanon)
Al-Ahly Egypt2–1Algeria NA Hussein Dey
Gomaa 74' (pen.)
Barakat 90+2'		 Report 61' Boulaouidet
Al Salam Stadium, Cairo
Attendance: 13,000
Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Morocco Fath Union Sport 3 1 2 0 7 3 +4 5 Advance to knockout stage
2 Lebanon Al-Ahed 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
3 Egypt Zamalek 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
4 Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
Source: Soccerway
Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia1–1Lebanon Al-Ahed
Al-Shehri 37' Report 49' Diop
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)
Zamalek Egypt2–2Morocco Fath Union Sport
Morsy 43' (pen.)
Shikabala 65'		 Report 8', 89' Diakité
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Yaqoub Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)
Fath Union Sport Morocco4–0Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
Fouzair 11', 29' (pen.), 32' (pen.)
El-Bahraoui 60'		 Report
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
Al-Ahed Lebanon1–0Egypt Zamalek
Zreik 84' Report
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman)
Al-Ahed Lebanon1–1Morocco Fath Union Sport
Haidar 54' (pen.) Report 45' Ait Khoursa
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Youssef Essrayri (Tunisia)
Zamalek Egypt2–1Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
Emam 1'
Hamdy 37'		 Report 11' Pereira
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Mahmood Ismail (Sudan)

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 9 Advance to knockout stage
2 Sudan Al-Merrikh 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4
3 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2
4 Iraq Naft Al-Wasat 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1
Source: Soccerway
Al-Merrikh Sudan1–1Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
Al-Madina 71' Report 26' Al-Dawsari
Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria)
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia2–2Iraq Naft Al-Wasat
Al-Qahtani 52'
Zabani 58'		 Report 45+2' Ahmed
80' Sadir
Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)
Espérance de Tunis Tunisia2–0Sudan Al-Merrikh
Badri 21', 70' Report
Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Ibrahim Nour El Din (Egypt)
Espérance de Tunis Tunisia3–2Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
Matri 45'
Jouini 58'
Chaalali 74'		 Report 49' Al-Yami
60' Al-Rashidi
Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

Ranking of second-placed teams

The highest ranked second-placed team from the groups advanced to the knockout stage; the rest were eliminated.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 A Egypt Al-Ahly 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6 Advance to knockout stage
2 B Lebanon Al-Ahed 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
3 C Sudan Al-Merrikh 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4
Source: Soccerway

Knockout stage

Matches were determined by a random draw.

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
2 August – Alexandria
 
 
Egypt Al-Ahly1
 
6 August – Alexandria
 
Jordan Al-Faisaly2
 
Jordan Al-Faisaly2
 
3 August – Alexandria
 
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis (a.e.t.)3
 
Morocco Fath Union Sport1
 
 
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis (a.e.t.)2
 

Semi-finals

Al-Ahly Egypt1–2Jordan Al-Faisaly
Oualid Azaro 90+9' Report 26' Mendy
red-colored football 37' (o.g.) Fathy
Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria
Referee: Ali Lemghaifry (Mauritania)

Final

Al-Faisaly Jordan2–3 (a.e.t.)Tunisia Espérance de Tunis
Zuway 72'
Attiah 88'		 Report 46', 54' Bguir
101' Dhaouadi
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
Attendance: 7,500
Referee: Ibrahim Nour El Din (Egypt)

Top scorers

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds.

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Morocco Mohamed Fouzair Morocco Fath Union Sport 3
2 Egypt Amr Barakat Egypt Al-Ahly 2
Iraq Ziyad Ahmed Iraq Naft Al-Wasat
Libya Akram Zuway Jordan Al-Faisaly
Senegal Dominique Mendy Jordan Al-Faisaly
Lebanon Mohamad Haidar Lebanon Al-Ahed
Ivory Coast Lamine Diakité Morocco Fath Union Sport
Nigeria Kelechi Osunwa Sudan Al-Merrikh
Sudan Bakri Al-Madina Sudan Al-Merrikh
Tunisia Anice Badri Tunisia Espérance de Tunis
Tunisia Saad Bguir Tunisia Espérance de Tunis
Tunisia Taha Yassine Khenissi Tunisia Espérance de Tunis

Prize money

UAFA announced that the winner will receive $2.5 million, while $600,000 will go to the runner-up and the losing semi-finalists will each get $200,000.

Media

The tournament gained international coverage for being the first football tournament to be broadcast live on Twitter, with all 21 matches from the group stage and knockout stage being shown for free on the competition's official Twitter account.

Broadcasting

Territory Channel
 Egypt ONTV
 Saudi Arabia Al-Riyadiah
 United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi TV

Notes

  1. ↑ Not including the cancelled 1990 edition.

References

  1. 1 2 "Inviting the Arab Associations to Participate in the Arab Club Cup" (in Arabic). UAFA. 20 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Men's Ranking". FIFA.com. 2 June 2016. Archived from the original on June 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ تصفيات الدور الأول لكأس العرب للأندية بجيبوتي (in Arabic). UAFA. 14 September 2016.
  4. ↑ اللجنة المنظمة للبطولة العربية للأندية تعقد اجتماعها الثاني بالخرطوم (in Arabic). UAFA. 5 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "UAFA : 12 clubs retenus pour la Coupe" (in French). Dzfoot.com. 7 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Arab Club Championship Awards" (in Arabic). Ahram Sport. 5 May 2017. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "The Development Arab Club Championship Awards from 2004 to 2017" (in Arabic). Goal. 21 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Twitter tournament: This week in Middle East football". The New Arab. 26 July 2017.