The draw for the 35th Arab Basketball Clubs Championship, hosted by Qatar starting this Sunday, has resulted in the distribution of teams into four groups. The first group includes Qatar, Al-Muharraq from Bahrain, Al-Brij Services from Palestine, and the defending champion, Al-Kuwait Club. The second group features the record-holding Al-Ittihad from Alexandria, Al-Sib from Oman, Al-Ahli from Qatar, Dynamo Beirut, and Al-Ittihad from Algeria. The third group consists of Al-Qadisiya from Kuwait, Al-Wehda from Yemen, Sale from Morocco, and Al-Fath from Saudi Arabia. The fourth group, which is considered intense, includes Al-Ahli from Egypt, the runner-up of the last championship, along with Beirut from Lebanon, Al-Ittihad from Libya, Al-Dijla from Iraq, and Maghreb Tangier from Morocco.
Matches for the first and second groups will be held at the Al-Gharafa Club hall, while the third and fourth groups will compete at the Al-Rayan hall. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the Round of 16 on Sunday, October 8, followed by the quarter-finals the next day, the semi-finals on Wednesday, October 11, and the final along with the crowning of the champion on the following day.
The first round will witness three matches, starting with Al-Ittihad from Algeria against Al-Sib from Oman, followed by Al-Ahli from Qatar against Dynamo Beirut in what is expected to be the strongest match of this round, and concluding with Qatar facing Al-Brij Services right after the opening ceremony. The draw was supervised by Dr. Magdi Abu Freikha, Vice President of the Arab Federation and President of the Egyptian Federation, along with Major Abdullah Shalabi, Secretary General of the Federation, and Wael Lotfy, Director General of the Federation.
