The League of Professionals revealed through a press statement today, nine reasons that prompted it to cancel the current version of the Arab Gulf Football League, before calling for an extraordinary general assembly, held this afternoon by video-calling system, and resulted in not increasing the seats in the Arab Gulf League clubs Next season, there are 16 clubs and the leaders of Al-Ahly are not crowned with the title. The association identified the reasons as follows.
1- The conditions of force majeure resulting from the Corona pandemic (Covid-19) and the measures and measures taken to limit the spread of the epidemic, including stopping football activity in the UAE as of March 15, 2020.
2- The decision issued by the International Football Association that the player who refused to extend his contract to complete the sports season 2019/2020, and the resulting shortage of players for most clubs, and consequently the unequal opportunities between the competing clubs, should not be replaced.
3- The summer transfer window was delayed until September, in accordance with the decision of the International Football Association until the end of the 2019/2020 season or at most four rounds before its end, which leads to not allowing new registered players to participate in the completion of the 2019/2020 season.
4- High temperatures and humidity in July and August, which affects the health and safety of players.
5 - Close the air traffic and the presence of players and coaches outside the country without clarity on the date of their return to join their clubs, with the necessity of the returnees' commitment to quarantine for a period of not less than 14 days from the date of return.
6- Players need a preparation period of no less than six weeks before the start of the season and after a three-month hiatus.
7- The completion of the AFC Champions League, which is expected to be held in September 2020, which will affect the scheduling of the completion of the 2019/2020 season.
8- In the event of completing the season, most of the national team and participants with their AFC Champions League clubs will participate in at least 11 games locally and abroad within a short period, before the official participation of the national team in the World Cup qualifiers during October, which causes stress and the possibility of injury and impact Adversely on their clubs and the national team.
9- The desire of 12 clubs not to complete the season in light of the results of a questionnaire that was conducted to find out the clubs ’position on whether to complete the competition or not.