Sport | Football
Mattar to play on loan for Qatar club
Ace UAE striker Esmail Mattar will play on loan for Al Sadd Club in Qatar in the Qatar Emir Cup competition.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 22:51 May 7, 2009
- Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News
- Al Wahda's Esmail Mattar is set to become the second playerfrom the club to play in Qatar.
Abu Dhabi: Ace UAE striker Esmail Mattar will play on loan for Al Sadd Club in Qatar in the Qatar Emir Cup competition.
The deal was given the green light by Shaikh Saeed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of Al Wahda's board of directors, who believes it is beneficial for the club's outstanding players to play professional football outside the UAE whenever the chance comes their way.
Mattar will be the second player from Al Wahda to play professional football in Qatar, following in the footsteps of Fahad Masaood, who played all of last season with a Qatar club and will join them again in the same competition this week.
"I am happy with the chance that has come to me," Mattar said yesterday. "It was one of my biggest dreams to play professional football outside the country, especially in Europe. But I have been waiting for a long time and now at last I have this chance. It will be for a short time but I am sure that it will open many new doors for me and my colleagues.
"I will be playing for Al Sadd for only a month but I believe I will benefit greatly from the experience, bearing in mind that each team in Qatar uses six foreign players as they regard the players from the GCC countries as local players. I do hope that I will be able to add more strength to my new team," Mattar said.
Mattar left yesterday for Doha with Khalid Awadh, the assistant executive director of the club. The deal means that the ace player will miss Al Wahda's three remaining matches in the UAE Football League. The club hopes to finish in the top four to qualify for the Asian Champions League next season.
Meanwhile, the club has announced a new board of directors, headed by Shaikh Saeed. The members of the board are vice chairman Ali Saeed Al Mazroui, Hamad Rashid Al Nuaimi, Rashid Ali Al Zaabi and Dr Abdul Karim Ahmad Al Zarouni.
Dr Essam Mohammad Ali will keep his post as the club's executive director.
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