No wonder the Asian Football Confederation bans all talk of politics at its competitions. Plenty of games on the continent come with off-pitch baggage: the Korean Derby, Iran v Iraq and Vietnam v Cambodia to name just a few. But, traditionally, Saudi Arabia v Qatar has not been anything to write home about – not until now. These days one cannot write home to Riyadh if one is in Doha and vice versa and that is just one reason why Thursday’s Asian Cup clash between the two is eagerly awaited.
Some have been calling the meeting in Abu Dhabi, capital of the host nation the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the “Blockade Derby”. The UAE – along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt – cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar in 2017. The claim was that, among other things, Doha was guilty of supporting terrorism.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2su6xYj
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