FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN champions Al Khaldiya shift their focus to their opening match this week in the all-new Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Two (ACL Two).
After clinching the 2023-24 Bahrain Super Cup on Friday, and with the new season of the Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League kicking off next weekend, Khadliya will first fly the kingdom’s flag in the AFC’s second-tier club competition, which has been rebranded heading into the new campaign.
The Bahrainis take on Al Taawoun FC of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday at the National Stadium in Riffa, scheduled for a 7pm kick-off.
It will be both teams’ opening fixture in Group B of the ACL Two’s first stage, where they will also be facing Air Force SC of Iraq and Altyn Asyr FC of Turkmenistan. Air Force host Altyn Asyr that same evening at Al Madina International Stadium in Baghdad. The ACL Two features 32 clubs from across Asia in its opening season.
Formerly known as the AFC Cup, the tournament is one level below the AFC Champions League Elite and one above the AFC Challenge League.ACL Two group fixtures are to be played in home-and-away format until December of this year. The top two from each division then move on to the round of 16 knockouts.
Participating teams in the 2024-25 ACL Two group stage are guaranteed a minimum of $300,000 in prize money, with additional bonuses available based on their eventual placings. The champions will receive at least $3.28 million.
&uuid=(email))