JEDDAH: Eight teams will begin their bid to claim the King's Cup for Champions on May 27, according to the draw made by Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal Bin Fahd, President of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (GPYW), in Riyadh Sunday. The eight teams have been divided into four groups where Al-Hilal and Al-Ta'awon are in Group A; Group B comprises Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr; Group C has Al-Shabab and Al-Ahli; while Group D consists of Al-Wehdah and Al-Ittifaq. Each team will play home and away matches, while the team with the more points in the group will qualify for the quarterfinals. The first-leg matches of the eight-round event will be played on May 27, 28 and 29 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), while the second-leg encounters will take place on June 10 and 11. However, the dates will put four teams — Hilal, Nasr, Shabab and Ittihad — in trouble since they will be playing their last-16 Asian Champions League matches, a day or two before their King's Cup matches. A committee at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) is working on the issue. The quarterfinals' home matches were scheduled to be played June 15 and 16, while the away matches will be held on June 19 and 20. The third and fourth spot matches will be played on June 23. Hilal will first play a home match against Ta'awon in Riyadh, before visiting King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Buraidah for the away tie. Ittihad and Nasr will play their first-leg match in Riyadh, before their second-leg match in Jeddah. Meanwhile, Shabab will host Ahli in Riyadh first before playing the second-leg match at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah. Wehdah will first host Ittifaq at Makkah's King Abdul Aziz Sports City Stadium. Ittifaq will then host the reds at Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam.
