UAE superstars Ali Mabkhout and Omar Abdulrahman should be free to return for next week’s Arabian Gulf Cup quarter-final deciders after a loophole about eligibility potentially shortened their domestic bans for infractions on national duty.
2016 AFC Player of the Year Abdulrahman, 26, and 2015 Asian Cup top scorer Mabkhout, 27, were given four-match suspensions on January 23 for breaking curfew the night before January 5’s Gulf Cup-final defeat to Oman.
Their bans were frozen from January 28-February 4 during the process of appeals being submitted, and then rejected.
Overage players can be registered for the Arabian Gulf Reserve League, which is designed for Under-21s.
Factoring in two games for this competition means the pair should play against Dibba Al Fujairah on Thursday (Mabkhout) and at Al Wahda on Friday (Abdulrahman).
