2017 Arab Club Championship

The 2017 Arab Club Championship, also known as the 2017 UAFA Club Championship, was the 27th season (not including 1990) 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.

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
Champions Espérance de Tunis (3rd title)
Runners-up Al-Faisaly
Tournament statistics
Matches played36
Goals scored83 (2.31 per match)
Attendance755,000 (20,972 per match)
Top scorer(s)Competition proper:
Mohamed Fouzair
(3 goals)

Allocation of entries

The following team entries allocation was announced by the Union of Arab Football Associations on 20 June 2016.[1] 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.[2] 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
Cairo
Al Salam Stadium
Capacity: 30,000

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.[1][3]

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
Main article: 2017 Arab Club Championship 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. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Riffa 1–5 Al-Ahed 0–1 1–4
Africa Zone
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts DJI DEK VOL
1 ASAS Djibouti Télécom[Note DJI] (H) 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 — 1–1 0–0
2 Dekedaha 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 2 — — 0–0
3 Volcan Club 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 — — —
Source: UAFA
(H) Host.
Notes
  1. ^
    ASAS Djibouti Télécom qualified via a drawing of lots.

Preliminary round 2
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Asia Zone
Al-Ahed 3–0 Shabab Al-Khalil 1–0 2–0
Africa Zone
ASAS Djibouti Télécom 1–2 Al-Merrikh 1–1 0–1

Play-off round
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Asia Zone
Al-Jaish 0–1 Naft Al-Wasat 0–0 0–1
Al-Ahed 6–1 Fanja 2–1 4–0
Africa Zone
FC Tevragh-Zeina 2–3 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.[4][5] 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 Al-Faisaly 3 3 0 0 4 1 +3 9 Advance to knockout stage
2 Al-Ahly 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
3 NA Hussein Dey 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
4 Al-Wahda 3 0 0 3 1 6 −5 0
Source: Soccerway
NA Hussein Dey 2–0 Al-Wahda
Addadi  11'
Gasmi  45+1'		 Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)
Al-Ahly 0–1 Al-Faisaly
Report Al-Rawashdeh  55'
Attendance: 10,000
Al-Faisaly 1–0 NA Hussein Dey
Mendy  52' Report
Attendance: 2,000
Al-Wahda 0–2 Al-Ahly
Report  32' Barakat
 84' Mohareb
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Youssef Essrayri (Tunisia)
Al-Wahda 1–2 Al-Faisaly
Batna  41' Report  76' Łukasz
 90+2' Zuway
Referee: Mohammed Darwish (Lebanon)
Al-Ahly 2–1 NA Hussein Dey
Gomaa  74' (pen.)
Barakat  90+2'		 Report  61' Boulaouidet
Attendance: 13,000
Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

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

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Espérance de Tunis 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 9 Advance to knockout stage
2 Al-Merrikh 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4
3 Al-Hilal 3 0 2 1 5 6 −1 2
4 Naft Al-Wasat 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1
Source: Soccerway
Naft Al-Wasat 0–1 Espérance de Tunis
Report  83' Khenissi
Al-Merrikh 1–1 Al-Hilal
Al-Madina  71' Report  26' Al-Dawsari
Al-Hilal 2–2 Naft Al-Wasat
Al-Qahtani  52'
Zabani  58'		 Report  45+2' Ahmed
 80' Ayad Sadir
Referee: Redouane Jiyed (Morocco)
Espérance de Tunis 2–0 Al-Merrikh
Badri  21', 70' Report
Espérance de Tunis 3–2 Al-Hilal
Matri  45'
Jouini  58'
Chaaleli  74'		 Report  49' Al-Yami
 60' Al-Rashidi
Al-Merrikh 2–1 Naft Al-Wasat
Abdul-Rahman  23' (pen.)
Osunwa  89'		 Report  2' Ahmed
Referee: Yaqoub Al-Hammadi (United Arab Emirates)

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 Al-Ahly 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6 Advance to knockout stage
2 B Al-Ahed 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
3 C 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
 
 
 Al-Ahly1
 
6 August – Alexandria
 
 Al-Faisaly2
 
 Al-Faisaly2
 
3 August – Alexandria
 
 Espérance de Tunis (a.e.t.)3
 
 Fath Union Sport1
 
 
 Espérance de Tunis (a.e.t.)2
 

Semi-finals
Al-Ahly 1–2 Al-Faisaly
Azaro  90+8' Report  26' Mendy
 37' (o.g.) Fathy
Fath Union Sport 1–2 (a.e.t.) Espérance de Tunis
Semmoumy  28' Report  47' Chemmam
 95' (pen.) Khenissi

Final
Al-Faisaly 2–3 (a.e.t.) Espérance de Tunis
Zuway  72'
Attiah  88'		 Report  46', 54' Bguir
 101' Dhaouadi
Attendance: 7,500

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
Qualifying play-off Group stage onwards Total
1 Ahmad Zreik Al-Ahed 4 1 5
Bakri Al-Madina Al-Merrikh 3 2
3 Mohamed Fouzair Fath Union Sport N/A 3 3
4 Amr Barakat Al-Ahly N/A 2 2
Ziyad Ahmed Naft Al-Wasat 0 2
Akram Zuway Al-Faisaly N/A 2
Dominique Mendy Al-Faisaly N/A 2
Mohamad Haidar Al-Ahed 1 1
Lamine Diakité Fath Union Sport N/A 2
Kelechi Osunwa Al-Merrikh 1 1
Anice Badri Espérance de Tunis N/A 2
Saad Bguir Espérance de Tunis N/A 2
Taha Yassine Khenissi Espérance de Tunis N/A 2

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.[6][7]

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.[8]

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

References
  1. "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.
  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.
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