JEDDAH — Football fans in Saudi Arabia will, in all likelihood, get a chance to see Al-Ahli Football Club play Sparta Prague Club, one of the top football clubs of the Czech Republic, this year. Saudi businessman and the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic, Hussein Shobokshi, has been authorized by the Jeddah club to start talks with Sparta Prague to organize a friendly match. The match will be held during the league break which is to be agreed between the two clubs. It will also provide the Kingdom and the Czech Republic a chance to develop their bilateral relations. Shobokshi has honorary membership of the Al-Ahli Club and is a former member of its Board of Directors. Sparta Prague Club was established in 1893 and has won the highest number of championships in the history of the Czech football league. The club also tops the 2014 league, where it is 5 points clear. Some of the main stalwarts who graduated from Sparta are: Pavel Nedved, former Juventus player; Tomas Rosicky, Arsenal star; and Petr Cech, Chelsea goalkeeper. Other prominent footballing legends to emerge from the club are: Andrej Kvasnak and Vaclav Missak, both played in the 1966 World Cup hosted by England. — SG
