Arabian Gulf League clubs were Wednesday still waiting to receive official confirmation from the Pro League Committee about the delay to the domestic season.
Monday’s decision to allow Gulf Cup hosts Kuwait to postpone the competition for a year because of infrastructure problems has removed the need for a break in the UAE from December 7-January 8.
The organising body’s Technical Committee crafted unratified plans to push back the season-opening Arabian Gulf Super Cup to mid-September from August 15 prior to the meeting in Kuwait City with kick-offs for the top-flight on August 19 and Arabian Gulf Cup on August 27 also set to be altered.
PLC protocol for any change states letters will first be delivered to the 14 top-flight sides, ahead of a press release being sent to the media and article published on their website. This process had not been enacted as of last night, senior representatives from a number of AGL outfits confirming they had yet to receive any documentation.
Fujairah CEO Sultan Al Shara bemoaned the timing, believing clubs will incur further costs having to extend pre-season training camps and arrange new friendly matches.
He said: “I disagree with the decision to postpone at such a late stage. We had prepared the team to be ready for the original dates.
“It will end up costing the clubs more money. We may need to play more games and continue our preparation in another foreign training camp, as will the others.”
Prior to the Gulf Cup call, the body had internally decided to play the Super Cup between Al Ain and Al Nasr on September 12, the first round of the cup on August 30 and first round of the AGL over September 18-20.
But speaking to Al Ittihad newspaper on Monday, Al Ameri stuck with the cup choice but revealed the Super Cup would be played on September 14 or 15 and the league from September 21.
Al Wasl team manager Majed Obaidallah was convinced there was “more advantages than disadvantages” to the scheme because competitive games would no lon-ger be played in the intense mid-August heat.
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He said: “I don’t think it will affect us too much. We will train in the UAE and arrange several games when we return from Europe on August 15.
“It is bad to have to organise these things at short notice, but it is good for the player. They now will not have to play when the temperature is highest.
“Overall, there are more advantages than disadvantages.”
Bani Yas vice-chairman Mubarak Awad bin Mahirom refused to chastise the PLC, insisting they had been forced into action by events outside their control.
He said: “It will affect us but we are with the PLC, we stand with them. It is not an internal issue, they have been forced into this by the Gulf Cup.”
