New Bahrain premier football league season kicks off

TDT | Manama      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The new season of the Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League kicks off tonight with the first of three successive evenings of matches in week one.

The 2023/2024 campaign features 12 national clubs in all, with Al Khaldiya looking to claim a second successive title. Khaldiya will only be in action on Sunday when they face off with Sitra at 7pm. That same evening, Al Ahli took on East Riffa at a separate location, with a similar kick-off time.

Tonight, an exciting clash between neighbours Muharraq and Hidd will be held, along with Manama facing off with Al Shabab.

Tomorrow, Riffa lock horns with Al Najma, while Busaiteen take on Al Hala. All the matches kick off at 7pm. 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 relegated 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 (41pts), who were hoping for a Khaldiya loss to be able to steal away the championship. Muharraq (40pts) finished third overall, followed by Riffa (39pts) and Sitra (38pts), 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 Bahrain Football Association (BFA) president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and BFA vice-president His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa.