Manama, Muharraq to kick off qualifying bids for King Salman Cup

TDT | Manama                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Bahrain clubs Manama and Muharraq kick off their qualifying campaigns this week for the 2023 King Salman Clubs Cup, the region’s top tournament organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) that is also known as the Arab Club Champions Cup.

Both Bahraini sides are amongst 24 teams in the twoleg qualifying phase.

Manama are taking on Al Hilal Omdurman of Sudan, while Muharraq are playing Al Seeb of Oman.

Manama take to the pitch for their away fixture tonight at Al Hilal Stadium in the Sudanese city of Omdurman.

Their return leg at home will then be on April 10. Muharraq, on the other hand, face off with Seeb in the first leg tomorrow.

The game will be played at Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa at Muharraq Club in Arad. The return fixture will then be held in Muscat on April 4.

After the first qualification stage, the 12 winners will advance to a second phase, which will then determine the six teams that will move on to the group stage, where 10 teams have already entered directly.

These sides include champion clubs from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

The tournament carries a huge prize purse, with the champions pocketing a cool US$6million.

The runners-up get $2.5million, while the semi-finalists each take home $200,000 and the quarter-finalists $150,000 each.