Tuesday 23 / April / 2024
Muscat: An intriguing game of football is in the offing as Saham and Al Khabourah are set square off in His Majesty’s Cup Football Championship final on Saturday.
The final, to be played at the Sohar Spots Complex, is scheduled to kick off at 7.15 p.m. with Lt. Gen. Hassan bin Mohsin Al Shuraiqi, Inspector General of Police and Customs, presiding over the match as the chief guest.
Interestingly the final will be contested between two sides -- both from Al Batinah region -- that have not done that well in the just concluded Omantel Professional League.
In the league, which saw Fanja lift the title for the record-equalling ninth time, both finished in the bottom half with Saham at eighth place and Al Khabourah in the 10th.
However, it was different story in the Sultanate’s premier soccer event, His Majesty’s Cup, where both the teams came up with one excellent performance after another.
In the double leg semifinals, for instance, Al Khabourah got the better of Salalah on 1-0 aggregate while Saham defeated four-time winners Al Nasr by a similar margin.
Interestingly, Saham will be eyeing their second title to add to their one they won back in 2009-10 season while Al Khabourah will be hoping to lay their hands on Oman’s most coveted trophy for the very first time.
Refs names
The Oman Football Association (OFA) announced the officials for the match.
Ahmed Abubacker Al Kaf will officiate the match with Abubacker Al Amri and Rashad Al Haqmani. Omar Al Yaqoobi will be the fourth referee and Mohamed Ghazali will be the fifth official.
During the final, the OFA will also be presenting a host of prizes for the fans including a car, airline tickets and tens of other valuable gifts.
The OFA also thanked Mazda, Oman Air, Omantel and all OFA sponsors for their valuable support for the HM’s Cup final.
Awards ceremony
Meanwhile, the OFA revealed the plans to host the annual Awards Gala on May 7.
The ceremony wil take place at Hotel Crowne Plaza under the auspices of Dr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al Harrasi, Chairman of the General Authority for Radio and Television and in the presence of Sheikh Sa’ad bin Mohammed Al Saadi, Minister of Sports Affairs, and a large number of invitees from the sports, institutions of public and private sectors as well as the star performers of the season.
During the ceremony, the best players and the teams will be honoured and the awards include top scorer, best player, best goalkeeper, best coach and best manager as well as the fairplay award.
