Abu Dhabi: Al Jazira have emulated Al Ahli in attempting to garner Egyptian support for the two sides’ Arabian Gulf Super Cup showdown in Cairo on September 13.

Ahmad Al Marzouqi, the team’s manager, has met with Murtaza Mansour, the chairman of Zamalek — one of the biggest clubs in the Egyptian capital and the 2016 Egypt Cup winners.

The President’s Cup holders Al Jazira and the Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ahli are eager to fill the 30,000-capacity Air Defence Stadium for the UAE’s traditional season-opener, which will be played outside the Emirates for the first time.

Al Ahli have already announced that they are laying on 50 buses to transport fans of Zamalek’s fierce city rivals, Al Ahly, to the game.

It follows a twinning agreement between the two clubs sealed last October, when the 2016 Egyptian Premier League champions Al Ahly met Zamalek in the Egyptian Super Cup in Al Ain.

Al Jazira agreed a similar unofficial partnership with Zamalek, which Al Marzouqi wants to come to fruition in the Super Cup with a bumper turnout.

“A large attendance in the stands, with fans of Zamalek and Al Ahly, will increase the power of the game,” he said on Wednesday. “We have made contact with Zamalek and expressed our desire for them to support us in this game.”

A press conference is due to be held in Cairo on Thursday to discuss ticket prices and other arrangements for the encounter.

It is also likely to cover security issues, amid concerns reported by Gulf News last month that the game might even have had to switch venue given the acrid hostility between Zamalek and Al Ahly fans.

The UAE football fraternity had greeted the “unique and historic” news that the Super Cup was being held in Egypt with unconfined joy.

The Pro League Committee (PLC) said switching the clash would add “new fraternal dimensions” with the UAE.

The Egyptian-UAE footballing alliance was initiated last October when more than 25,000 fans crammed into Al Ain’s Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium to watch Egypt’s Super Cup between Al Ahly and Zamalek.

The same venue also hosted a friendly between Al Ahly and the Italian giants AS Roma in May.

The resounding success of both games persuaded the Egyptian marketing agency Presentation Sports to approach the PLC about staging the UAE Super Cup in Egypt, with Cairo being chosen above Munich and London.