Dubai: The draw for the 2017/18 12-team Arabian Gulf League (AGL) will take place at the UAE Football Association (UAE FA) headquarters in Al Khawaneej from 4.30pm on August 3, it was announced by the Pro League Committee (PLC) on Tuesday.
Participating teams for the forthcoming season are; champions Al Jazira, runners-up Al Wasl, record 12-time winners Al Ain, Al Wahda, Al Nasr, Al Dhafra, Hatta, Dibba, Emirates and newly promoted Ajman. Newly formed Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, who were born out of a merger between Al Shabab, Al Ahli and newly promoted Dubai, as well as Sharjah and Al Shaab, who have also merged to form Sharjah Sports Cultural Club, will also make their debuts this season.
In an effort from the PLC to ensure parity and to have strong fixtures distributed evenly across the season, the Arabian Gulf Cup draw will take place in three stages.
Last season’s AGL champions Al Jazira and Arabian Gulf Cup winners Al Ahli will each be assigned a group of six as top seeds. Then the top six teams from last season’s table after Al Jazira and Al Ahli, will be drawn one at a time into both groups. Finally the remaining teams will be drawn.
According to the new format, each group contains six teams with the top four of each progressing to a two-legged quarter-final, which feeds into a two-legged semi and a one-legged final.
The AGL draw will take place in two stages. The first includes the top six teams from last season, while the second sees teams ranked seventh to 12th drawn.
Teams are currently on pre-season camps across Europe awaiting the start of the season. The Arabian Gulf Cup kicks off on September 8, followed by the Super Cup on September 15, with the opening round of the Arabian Gulf League fixtures getting under way on September 16.
