(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
The QNB Qatar Stars League Management yesterday announced the match schedule of the first leg of the 2017/2018 season which will commence on September 15.
This year there will be 12 teams participating following the decision to reduce the number of teams from 14 to 12.
Highlights from the first weekend of League action will see a season opener on Friday, September 15 between old rivals Al Gharafa and Al Ahli, which is set for a 6.00pm kick off at Thani Bin Jassim stadium (Al Gharafa stadium).
The newly formed Al Duhail will begin their season with a home encounter against newly promoted Qatar SC.
On Saturday, new boys Al Markhiya take on Al Sadd at Grand Hamad Stadium (Al Arabi) while weekend comes to an end when Al Khor take on former champions Al Rayyan at Al Khor stadium.
The announcement was made in coordination with all the stakeholders (the partners, National Teams Department, official host broadcaster) taking into consideration all the international matches and competitions to be held in Qatar during the first leg.
The first leg will witness two stoppages due to the commitments of the Qatar National Team, the first of which will be for two weeks following Round 3, while the second stoppage will be for 10 days following Round 7.
The teams have been divided into three groups.
Group One: Al Duhail, Al Sadd, Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa
Group Two: Umm Salal, Al Kharaitiyat, Al Sailiya and Al Arabi
Group three: Al Ahli, Al Khor, Al Markhiya and Qatar SC (both returning from the second division league.)
The division also aims at creating a balance in the teams' matches over the course of the rounds. This will be achieved through the rotation of opponents representing the three different groups.
In the summer time, the first match will be played around 20 minutes after the Maghrib (sunset) call to prayer. While in the winter time, the first half will be aimed to be completed before the Maghrib call to prayer in order to give the opportunity to perform the prayer on time.
This also means that there will be a change in the kick-off times for the first match in accordance with the Maghrib call to prayer from one round to another.
There was also coordination with the Ministry of Culture & Sports to perform regular maintenance of the match venues.
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