The Arab club championships.. an ancient history with 9 different names..The first round of King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs 2023 will start tomorrow

Tomorrow evening, Monday, the first round of King Salman Cup for Arab Clubs 2023, organized by the Union of Arab Football Associations, will start, after the conclusion of the preliminary round and the draw that was held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, last week.

The first round will be held with the participation of 24 teams, each of them will play two home and away matches throughout March and April, in search of the six cards to pass to the second round, which will be held next July in Taif, Abha and Al-Baha in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Palm Tree Stadium in Basra, Iraq, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya from Iraq will face its guest, Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia, while Al Hilal from Sudan will host Manama from Bahrain, at its home stadium in Omdurman, on Monday evening.

One match will be held next Tuesday, as Al-Muharraq from Bahrain will face its guest, Al-Seeb from Oman, at Ali bin Hamad Stadium in the Bahraini capital, Manama, while three matches will be played next Wednesday, as AS FAR
from Morocco will face Al-Ittihad from Libya. at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium
in Rabat, and Nouadhibou from Mauritania will play its match with its guest, Shabab Al-Ordon from Jordan, at Stade Cheikha Ould Boïdiya in Nouakchott, and Kuwait from Kuwait will face JS Saoura from Algeria at Kuwait Stadium, and then the match will be renewed between JS Saoura and Kuwait teams, at Miloud Hadefi stadium, On March 2, in the away match, to decide who qualifies for the next stage.

The rest of the first round matches are scheduled to be completed from q to 16 April, to determine the teams that qualifies for the second round of the tournament.

The club championships represent one of the most important and prominent competitions of the Union of Arab Football Associations, and have attracted the attention of Arab football fans on a large scale, since its inception for the first time in 1982, as the Arab Clubs Championship was held with 9 different names, as the excitement and the strong competition between all teams to be on the podium with cups was present.

Arab Clubs League Championship

The competition was launched for the first time in 1982 under the name “Arab Clubs Champions League Championship”, of which 17 copies were held and continued until 2001.

The first edition was held in Iraq, as Al-Shorta from Iraq came in first place, then Al-Najma from Lebanon in the second place, then Al-Ahli from Jordan came in third place, then the second edition was held in Saudi Arabia in 1984, Ettifaq from Saudi Arabia won the title, and Kenitra from Morocco came in the second place, and Riffa from Bahrain came in third place.

Iraq returned to host the third edition, as Al-Rasheed from Iraq won the title in 1985, and USM El Harrach from Algeria came in second place, then Al-Najma from Lebanon came in the third place. The following year, the fourth edition was held in Tunisia, as Al-Rasheed won the title for the second time in a row, and Esperance from Tunisia and Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia came in second and third places, respectively.

Al-Rasheed topped the podium with the title in the fifth edition again in 1987 in Saudi Arabia, beating Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia, which ranked second, while Ettifaq from Saudi Arabia regained the title in the sixth edition in UAE in 1988, while Club Africain from Tunisia came in the second place in the final standings of the tournament.

Morocco hosted the seventh edition in 1989, and Wydad Casablanca won the title, while Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia came in the second place, then the eighth edition was held in Qatar in 1992 after a three-year stoppage, as Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia topped the podium, and Al-Arabi from Qatar came in the second place.

The ninth edition was played in Tunisia in 1992 as well, and Esperance was crowned with the title, while Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia came in the second place, then WA Tlemcen from Algeria and Al-Qadisiyah from Kuwait together finished in third place.

Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia hosted the tenth edition in 1994 and won the title at that time, while Al-Ittihad ranked second, and Al-Hilal retained its title after one year in the eleventh edition, while Esperance from Tunisia came was the runner-up.

The twelfth edition was held in Egypt, and Al-Ahly from Egypt was crowned with the title at the time in 1996, while Raja from Morocco came in second place, while the next edition was played in Tunisia in 1997, and Club Africain from Tunisia won the title at the time.

The fourteenth edition was played in Saudi Arabia in 1998, and WA Tlemcen from Algeria won the title, while Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia came in second place.

The fifteenth edition returned to Egypt in 1999, and Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia topped the podium with the title, while Al-Jaish from Syria came in the second place, while Al-Salmiya from Kuwait and Al-Ahly from Egypt came together in the third place.

CS Sfaxien from Tunisia was crowned as the champion of the sixteenth edition in Saudi Arabia in 2000, while Al-Jaish from Syria finished second at the time, while the Al-Sadd from Qatar won the title of the last edition under this name on its stadium in 2001, while MC Oran from Algeria came in the second place.

Arab Cup Winners’ Cup

Twelve versions of the tournament were held under the name “Arab Cup Winners’ Cup” between 1989 and 2002.

Saudi Arabia hosted the first edition in 1989, as Stade Tunisien was crowned with the title, while Kuwait from Kuwait came in second place, then Al-Rasheed from Iraq came third.

The second edition was played in UAE in 1991, and Olympique de Casablanca
from Morocco rose to the podium, while Al Mokawloon Al Arab from Egypt came as runner-up.

The third edition was held in 1993 in Saudi Arabia, and Olympique de Casablanca retained the title, while Al-Sadd from Qatar came as runner-up, then Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia and AS Marsa from Tunisia came in the third place.

Olympique de Casablanca from Morocco won the third title in a row in the fourth edition in 1994 in Qatar, beating the Saudi runner-up Al-Qadisiyah at the time, while Al-Ahly from Egypt won the cup in its fifth edition in the following year in Egypt.

The sixth edition was in Tunisia also in 1995, and was crowned by Club Africain from Tunisia, while Olympique Club de Khouribga from Morocco won the title in the seventh edition in the following year in Jordan.

Al-Ismaily from Egypt hosted the eighth edition in 1997, but MC Oran from Algeria was crowned with the title, followed by Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia in second place.

The ninth edition were held in Lebanon in 1998, and MC Oran retained the title again, beating the runner-up Al-Jaish from Syria, while Al-Ittihad from Qatar was crowned with the cup in its tenth edition in Kuwait 1999.

Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia won the title in its eleventh edition in 2000 in Riyadh, while Al-Nassr came in second place, while the championship was concluded with this name in Tunisia 2002, as Stade Tunisien was crowned with the title.

Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz Cup

The tournament was held under this name on two previous occasions in 2003, as the first edition was hosted by Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia, as Al-Ahli was crowned with the title, while Club Africain from Tunisia came as a runner-up.

The second edition was held in Egypt, as Zamalek from Egypt was crowned with the title at the time, while Kuwait from Kuwait finished second.

Arab Club Champions Championship (Elite)

The competition was held under the name of the Arab Club Champions Championship (Elite) during 7 editions between 1995 and 2001, and it was launched for the first time in Saudi Arabia and was crowned by Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia.

The second edition of the tournament was played in Tunisia in 1996, and Esperance from Tunisia was crowned with the title, while Al-Ahly from Egypt won the cup in the third edition in Morocco during in the following year.

Al-Ahly from Egypt retained the title in the fourth edition in 1998 in Tunisia, while Club Africain from Tunisia came as the runner-up at the time.

MC Oran from Algeria was crowned with the title in its fifth edition in Syria in 1999, while Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia captured the cup in the sixth edition in 2000 in Jordan.

The championship under this name was finished during Syria version in 2001, when Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia won the title, while Al-Nassr came in the second place.

Arab Champions League

The name of the Arab Champions League appeared in 6 different versions between 2003 and 2009, as the first edition of it was held in the 2003-2004 season with the participation of 32 teams from 17 different countries, and the title was crowned at the time by CS Sfaxien from Tunisia, while Al-Ismaily from Egyptia came as runner-up.

The second edition of the Arab Champions League was held with the participation of 32 teams from 17 countries as well, as the final match was played in Jeddah, and Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia won the title during the 2004-2005 season.

Raja from Morocco won the title in the third edition during the 2005-2006 season after winning the final match against Enppi from Egypt, while ES Setif from Algeria won the fourth edition in 2006-2007 season, while Al-Faisaly from Jordan came in the second place.

ES Setif retained the title in the fifth edition of the 2007-2008 season, while Wydad from Morocco came as a runner-up, while Esperance won the sixth and final cup under this name in 2008-2009, and Wydad finished second.

UAFA Cup for Clubs

The name of the Union of Arab football associations Cup for Clubs appeared only once, in the version that was held in 2012-2013, with the participation of 22 teams from 18 different countries.

The final match was held in Algeria, and USM Alger from Algeria was crowned with the title, while Al-Arabi from Kuwait came in second place.

Arab Club Championship

This name also appeared once during the 2017 edition, and the tournament started with the qualifiers, with the participation of 20 teams from 18 different countries, while the finals were played in the presence of 12 clubs in Egypt.

Esperance from Tunisia won the title at the time, after defeating Al-Faisaly from Jordan in the final.

Zayed Champions Cup

The name “Zayed Champions Cup” appeared during the 2018-2019 season, and it was a copy that caught the eye and was held with the distinguished participation of Arab teams.

Étoile du Sahel from Tunisia won the title after defeating Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia in the final match in Al Ain, UAE.

Mohammed VI Champions Cup

In the next version, the name was changed to “Mohammed VI Champions Cup”, during the 2020-2021 season, and it witnessed a great state of competition between all teams.

Raja from Morocco won the title after defeating Al-Ittihad from Saudi Arabia in the final match in Morocco.