Qatar 2022: New Qatar Stars League season to kick-off at Education City

After being inaugurated virtually back in mid-June, Education City has been chosen to stage the first match of the new league season which kicks off in September. The stadium’s inauguration took place on Monday 15 June without the presence of people – a precautionary measure taken by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On the opening day of the Qatar Stars League season, Al-Sadd will take on newly-promoted Al-Kharaitiyat, then Al-Duhail will face Umm Salal - both games will take place at Education City, a stadium with a capacity of 40,000 which also features state-of-the-art air cooling technology.

Education City and the AFC Champions League

Al-Duhail will make the most of their opportunity to familiarise themselves with Education City, where they are also due to play their AFC Champions League matches – both group stage games and knockout ties. Education City was chosen from the four venues in Qatar for the remaining games in the AFC Champions League up to the semi-finals. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have yet to decide where the final of the tournament will be played.

It’s worth remembering that there are three other World Cup venues in the list of arenas which will hold AFC Champions League matches – they are the Al-Janoub stadium, Al-Khalifa International and the Jasem Bin Hamad stadium - home to Al-Sadd.