An informed source revealed to “Emarat Al Youm” the full details behind choosing Al Ain team to play the opening match of the Intercontinental Cup competition organized by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), against the New Zealand team Auckland City, and exempting Al Ahly of Egypt from playing this match.
FIFA had announced at the launch of the tournament that the first stage would be held in two rounds, the first of which would see a draw between the winner of the AFC Champions League and the winner of the CAF Champions League, to determine the team that would face the Oceania champion, with the winner of the match to face the team that the draw put in rest. However, things changed without any clarification from the International Federation, which imposed a state of controversy and questioning in the sports community about the truth of this matter.
The source said that the reason behind Al Ain starting from the first round in the new competition is due to FIFA’s decision to cancel the idea of the draw and replace it with the league classification of clubs, which shows that Al Ahly of Egypt is the highest, so it was exempted from the preliminary round, and will face the qualifier from the first match later.
The source stated that the UAE Football Association had received an official notification from the International Federation (FIFA) regarding the proposed date for the match against New Zealand’s Auckland City in the last quarter of next September, specifically from September 22 to 26 at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, the home of the “Boss”.
The source pointed out that the second round, which will bring together the winner of the match between Al Ain and Auckland City against Al Ahly, will not be held in the stadium of either party, but will be played in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the stronghold of Al Ahly, due to its high ranking, instead of holding a draw, as was previously announced.
The winning team from this round will qualify for the play-off match on December 14 at a neutral venue, against the winner of the CONCACAF champion and the Copa Libertadores champion. The winner of this match will meet in the final match against Real Madrid, the European Champions League champion, on December 18 at a neutral venue as well.
Al Ain’s clash with New Zealand’s Auckland City will not be the first between Emirati and New Zealand clubs, as Al Zaeem had faced New Zealand’s Team Wellington in the opening match of the 2018 Club World Cup, while Auckland City clashed with Al Jazira in the 2017 edition, and also faced Shabab Al Ahli in the 2009 edition.
Al-Zaeem is participating in the competition as the holder of the AFC Champions League title, which it won last May at the expense of Yokohama FC of Japan, after a historic journey during which it was able to eliminate Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr of Saudi Arabia, who were candidates to win the continental title, and obtain the opportunity to participate in the new competition.
Winning the continental title gave Al Ain the right to participate in three continental and world championships, as the team will participate in addition to the Intercontinental Cup, in the Club World Cup scheduled to be held in June 2025 in the United States of America, in addition to the AFC Champions League for the elite.
• 3 matches between the Emirati and New Zealand clubs.
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