Al Khaldiya set for title-defence

TDT | Manama                                   

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Defending champions Al Khaldiya will take on Sitra in their opening match of the 2023/2024 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

The match-ups for the first phase of the new season in the Kingdom’s top-tier football competition was determined last night. A draw ceremony was held at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) headquarters in Riffa.

BFA secretary general attended the event, along with representatives from the league’s 12 clubs. Aside from Khaldiya and Sitra, also taking part in the new campaign are Riffa, Muharraq, Manama, East Riffa, Hidd, Al Shabab, Al Hala, Al Najma, Busaiteen and Al Ahli.

Other match-ups in week one will see Muharraq face off with Hidd, Riffa take on a bolstered Najma, Manama play Shabab, Busaiteen go against Hala and Ahli take on East Riffa. The opening round of games are scheduled to be held 22 September.

Round two will also be held the same month, followed by rounds three to five in October. In November, the sixth and seventh rounds of play will take place, followed by rounds eight to 11 in December.

That will conclude the first stage of the league which will then head to its mid-season break. Khaldiya were crowned champions of the 2022/2023 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League last May.

They secured their first-ever league title following a 1-1 draw with Bahrain Club in their season-ending fixture. The stalemate and share of the points helped Khaldiya improve to 42 points on the final league standings.

They finished one point ahead of Manama, who were hoping for a Khaldiya loss to be able to steal away the championship. Muharraq finished third overall, followed by Riffa and Sitra, who were just four points behind.

It was one of the closest races for the crowns in recent league history. Khaldiya were presented the league’s all-new champions’ shield at the end of last season by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority president and Bahrain Olympic Committee chief His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa; along with BFA president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and BFA vice-president His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa.