Gulf League champions receive $3 million

The Arabian Gulf Cup Football Association announced that after nine consecutive years of absence, it will launch the “Gulf Club Champions League” event in a new format, which will be held from October 23 to April 15, 2024. Next year, in 2025, eight clubs will participate.

The Arabian Gulf Cup Federation has approved eight clubs to participate: Al Nasr in the United Arab Emirates, Al Arabi in Qatar, Riffa in Bahrain, Al Qadisiya in Kuwait, Al Ittifaq in Saudi Arabia, Al Ahli Sana’a in Yemen, Dhofar in Oman and Duhuk in Iraq.

Jassim Al-Rumaihi, secretary general of the Arabian Gulf Cup Football Federation, confirmed that the draw for the tournament has been rescheduled to September 23 next year in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The secretary general noted that the tournament prize money had grown so high that it was now competing with that of the AFC, which showed the huge interest of the association.

Al-Rumaihi added that rewards and prizes have been allocated to the participating teams, with the first-place team (champion) receiving a prize of (3,000,000) three million U.S. dollars, while the second-place team will receive a prize of (1,000,000) million U.S. dollars.

Individual prizes are also allocated to the participating players. The best player of the tournament will receive a prize of (50,000) US dollars, the best goalkeeper award will receive a prize of (50,000) US dollars, and the player with the highest score in the competition will also receive a prize of (50,000) US dollars.

The Arabian Gulf Cup Association allocated financial contributions and other incentive bonuses to participating clubs in accordance with regulations. In addition to allocating (300,000) US dollars to participating clubs, a bonus of (100,000) US dollars was given to each participating club as an incentive for advancing to the semi-finals.

While there will be a donation for travel to away home games, each participating club will receive a financial contribution of $(30,000) for each away home game, in addition to a win bonus of $(30,000) for each game won.

The Gulf Club Championship was approved at a meeting of the Gulf Cup Federation Executive Office held in late May last year, based on a proposal by the Arabian Gulf Cup Federation Competition Committee.