UAE to discover rivals in group stage of Arab Cup

The draw for this summer's Arab Cup tournament will be held today in Jeddah, where the UAE will find out which teams they will face in the group stage. The 11 competing teams will be divided into two groups to compete in Jeddah and Tayef from June 22 to July 6. Other countries taking part are Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco and Yemen. The Pan Arab Football Federation has motivated the teams by offering big cash prizes for the first time. The winners will receive $1 million (Dh3.67 million), the runner-up will receive $600,000 while the third-placed team gets $350,000. All the other teams will receive $200,000 just for taking part. Dr Abdullah Misfir, the caretaker coach of the UAE's senior national team, has already decided to prepare his squad in a training camp in Turkey from June 1, giving those who play in the Etisalat Pro League just three days to rest after the end of the domestic season. Misfir and his technical staff will confer with Mahdi Ali, the head coach of the UAE Olympic team — who will take part in the London Games in July and will start preparing at almost the same time — to find out which players he wants to field. The Olympics squad is made up of mostly Under-23 players, with only three over-age players allowed. Ali has already announced that star forward Esmail Matar, 29, will be with the team in London, so Misfir has to find new strikers for his team since Ahmad Khalil and Ali Mabkhoot will not be included as they are both aged under 23. Ahmad Saeed, the administrator of the senior team, will attend the draw today to represent the UAE.