The new season 2020/2021 of Omantel League will start on December 17 as confirmed by the Oman Football Association (OFA) officials in a press conference on Tuesday at Seeb Stadium.
The coveted HM Cup will begin next January. Said bin Othman al Balushi, the Secretary-General of OFA and Shaikh Shabib al Hosni, the Assistant Secretary-General, unveiled the details of the new season at the press meet.
The Omantel League will end on May 20, 2021. The commencement date of the first division league is scheduled on December 19 while it will conclude on April 28, 2021.
Said al Balushi said that the junior leagues is under revision and further study. “There are many factors depending on cancellation or postponement of the junior leagues. The final decision will be clear by January after evaluation of the pandemic situation. The 2019/2020 season of the junior leagues were stopped in last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “ he added.
Commenting on the national teams plan, the OFA Executive Director, responded that the national teams did not want to be negligent. “ The reason behind not having the overseas camps is due to the current situation of the globe health crises. Obviously, OFA will provide all the arrangements for the external camps once health situation is in normal condition. However, the domestic camps are going on and technical preparation is moving as per the plan,” he said.
Shaikh Shabib al Hosni affirmed during his clarification at press meet that all the league matches will be at sports complexes only. “According to the OFA approved medical protocol, all the matches will be played in the sports complexes and that will allow implementing all the medical preventive measures to avoid spreading the virus,” he added.
The Assistant Secretary- General and Director of Omantel League clarified the new league systems.
“ The first round (first leg) matches of the league will be played in a league system while the clubs will divided into two groups at the second round,” he added. Al Hosni ended his statement that OFA managed to end the 2019-2020 matches successfully with full implementation of the medical protocol. The 2019/2020 season ended by crowning Seeb as the champion of the league for the first time while Dhofar was placed as runner up and Al Nahda ended in the third position.
Mirbat, Al Oruba and Oman Club were relegated to the first division league. Nizwa had crowned as the first division league champions while Al Shabab was positioned in the second place. Al Musannah team placed in the third position and confirmed their presence in the top flights in the next season.
Adil Al Balushi
Muscat, Nov 17
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