Sport | Football
Problem of plenty baffles soccer fans
UAE soccer fans will be faced with a problem of plenty when Dubai hosts two international tournaments on the same day in the New Year.
- By Sayed Ali, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 December 30, 2006
Dubai: UAE soccer fans will be faced with a problem of plenty when Dubai hosts two international tournaments on the same day in the New Year.
The Al Nasr Al Maktoum Stadium in Bur Dubai will host the Challenge Cup 2007 from January 8-10. On the same days, the Al Ahli Rashid Stadium in Deira will stage the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup.
The Challenge Cup 2007 features two major German clubs - Hamburg and Vfb Stuttgart - in addition to the national teams from Iran and the UAE.
At Al Ahli, Bayern Munich, Lazio, Marseille and Benfica will play in a knockout tournament.
As the dates of the two tournaments clash with each other, soccer fans will have to make up their minds on which way to go!
The tournament at Al Nasr Stadium is expected to attract a sizeable number of UAE and Iranian fans.
The Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup includes strong European club teams like Bayern Munich, Benfica, Marseille and Lazio.
However, supporting the national team is likely to be the priority for the UAE fans as well as that of the Iranians.
The organisers of the two tournaments could have avoided the confusion by holding these two events on different dates.
It is indeed strange that no tournament worth the mention has been held in the UAE right through the season and now suddenly there is a surfeit of top European club teams making a beeline for Dubai and playing matches all at the same time.
Under the circumstances, soccer fans are the worst sufferers, losing out on some exciting fare.
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