Muscat,- The Oman Football Association revealed today in a press meeting held at the Association headquarters at Al-Seeb Sports Stadium, the precautionary details and the system that will work for the resumption of the football activity and the completion of the remaining competitions matches for the 2019/2020 sports season, which will be completed from October 15 without spectators after coordination with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and approval of the competent authorities.
The match fixture for the His Majesty the Sultan’s Cup, Omantel League and First Division League will be announced next Sunday, according to the previous schedule, by holding matches in sports complexes and club stadiums, after activity has stopped since last March.
Saeed bin Othman Al-Balushi, Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Association, Hisham Al-Adwani, Chairman of the League Committee, and Dr. Majid Al-Wardi, Chairman of the Sports Medicine Committee and Supervisor of the Application of the Medical System, spoke in the press conference in the presence of a number of different media outlets.
The Secretary-General and the Executive Director of the Association thanked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for the great role it had played by coordinating with the competent authorities in obtaining approval to resume the football activity for the 2019/2020 season and giving the green light to prepare and arrange for the next season 2020/2021. He explained that the Association had direct contact with the clubs concerned and sent the circular clarifying the required procedures and precautionary aspects that concern everyone for the safety of the players and the technical and administrative bodies and those involved in this activity from various segments of society so that the competitions could be completed easily and safely.
Al-Balushi stated that the completion of the matches will start on October 15th without fans, saying, “The Oman Football Association will issue, next Sunday, the schedule for all matches according to the health system that was received from the International Football Association, as well as the instructions of the competent authorities in the Sultanate, so all players will be examined in a specialized hospital, where the Association has contracted with Badr Al-Samaa hospitals to issue a medical certificate showing the results of all players and technical and administrative staff, in addition to a temperature test for everyone before the start of any match.
Al-Balushi added that all the costs of medical examinations and the provision of other medical aspects such as masks and sterilizers will be covered by the Oman Football Association through the support provided by the International Football Federation (FIFA) in accordance with the rules and conditions set by the FIFA, and the clubs are part of this support. Each club will be allowed 50 individuals to obtain these checks according to the lists that the club has previously submitted to the Association.
The Secretary-General and the Executive Director of the Association indicated that the Association formed 3 working groups to coordinate and communicate with the clubs to review and implement the preventive system in each governorate, starting with wearing masks, providing sterilizers, social distancing and other precautionary aspects, which were distributed to the clubs before for discussion, study, and application even in training, accommodation and buses.
Hisham Al-Adwani, Manager of Oman Professional League at Oman Football Association, said, “The return of competitions has become a requirement for all athletes to know all the details related to the resumption of competitions, as well as the start of the new season, and this is what matters to all partners, including the media, as the suspension of competitions came by a decision from the competent authorities and the completion of competitions and the resumption of football activity for the national teams came after a thorough study with the importance of applying the approved precautionary aspects, all for the health and safety of everyone.”
Al-Adwani added that the decision came in two important parts, namely the resumption of the Cup matches of His Majesty the Sultan, the Omantel League and First Division, and allowing national teams to train, and the second part is to wait a month from the end of the 2019/2020 season competitions, after which the new season 2020/2021 begins. All of this is related to the events and repercussions that this pandemic is going through, and changes or amendments are possible because all activities are linked to the decisions of the competent authorities that everyone must follow. Therefore, everyone must implement the required health conditions without complacency.
The Director of Oman Professional League confirmed that the completion of the remaining matches will be the same as its previous system, according to the remaining match schedule, which is from October 15, that is, in 5 weeks from now, and the clubs have enough time to equip themselves technically and healthily.
With regard to foreign players who left the Sultanate and the possibility of them returning to play with their clubs, Al-Adwani explained that any club that wishes to return its foreign players from outside the Sultanate must address the Association with official documents, and the Association will address the competent authorities to facilitate its entry into the country with the commitment to the required quarantine of 15 days, according to what has been determined by the competent authorities.
Dr. Majid Al-Wardi, Chairman of the Sports Medicine Committee, who oversees the implementation of the medical system, said that the system required to be applied is clear to everyone, as we started that with the youth team training, as well as Dhofar Club, which stresses the importance of conducting the coronavirus test, and then the periodic examinations and temperature measurements with the provision of other precautionary aspects including wearing masks, using sterilizers, social distancing, avoiding handshake, in addition providing individual accommodation for each player and spacious buses for transport. Any infected player will be excluded directly, and if any symptoms appear on any player, he will be subject to quarantine.
Dr. Majid Al-Rawahi called on all clubs to cooperate with the formed teams to follow up the implementation of the preventive health system required during daily training and residency of players and even during the feeding period, because any player being infected with Covid-19 can transmit it to another group. Returning to His Majesty the Sultan’s Football Cup, Al-Orouba, Ibri, Dhofar and Al-Nahda are still seeking the great opportunity to reach the final match of the precious cup after the semi-final first-leg matches were played, in which Ibri was able to beat Al-Orouba 2-1, while Al-Nahda and Dhofar tied 1-1. All teams have the opportunity to achieve a positive result in the second leg.
As for the Omantel League, there are still 3 rounds remaining in the season. Al-Seeb club tops the standings with 50 points, Dhofar (45 points) came second, Al-Nahda (34 points) came third, Al-Nasr (33 points) came fourth, Saham (32 points) came fifth, Muscat and Suhar (31 points), Al-Rustaq and Fanja (30 points), Al-Suwaiq (29 points), Bahla (28 points), Oman Club (26 points), Al-Orouba (23 points) and Mirbat (12 points) came last. The two teams that will accompany Mirbat to the first division will be known in the remaining matches.
In the First Division, the competition is still strong to achieve the dream of ascending to the Omantel League. Sur tops Group A with 12 points, followed by Al-Ittihad 10 points, Salalah, Al-Shabab 9 points, Al-Khaboura 6 points, and Ibri 5 points. In the second group, Nizwa leads with 13 points, then Samail 11 points, Al-Masna'a 10 points, Bidiyah 9 points, Bousher 8 points, and Al-Mudhaibi 4 points. After the end of the final stage matches, the first-place winners of the two groups will be able to go directly to the Omantel League, while the second-place winners will play a decisive match to determine the third qualified team with the first-place winners.
In a related context, the Oman Football Association confirmed through its official account that the first national football team will start the preparation program for the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup by setting up two camps, the first is internal during the period from 20 September to 12 October, and the second is external in Dubai, from 7 to 17 November, with two friendly matches with the Jordanian and Kuwaiti teams.
(ONA)