Volleyball battles between Qatar’s top clubs in the 2019-2020 season will begin on November 2, with the Super Cup at the Al Arabi Sports Club courts.

Last year’s league champions Police and winners of the Emir’s Cup Al Rayyan will meet in the Super Cup, the traditional season-opener.

Six days later, the Qatar Volleyball League will get underway from November 8, with Al Gharafa taking on Al Sadd and Police playing Al Wakra in the first two matches of the day.

Hoping to raise the quality of the league, the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA) has decided to allow clubs to field two professional players instead of just one this year.

“We wanted to ensure the league is of high quality. It’ll also benefit our players as they’ll learn from the foreign players,” said Saeed Salem Aljamani, QVA’s Assistant Secretary General.

Al Rayyan have brought in Portugal’s Marco Ivan Baptista Ferreira while retaining their player from Montenegro, Marco Vikasinovic.

“Ferreira has plenty of experience with clubs in Europe and he’ll play a vital role in our team,” said Rayyan coach Carlos Eduardo Schwank.

“This is my first season in Qatar but from what I’ve seen in our practice matches, the level of volleyball is quite high and as such, it will not be an easy,” said the 32-year-old Ferreira.
Police have not named their second foreign player but German Jochen Schöps is still in their ranks. Schöps said though they were the league champions they were not expecting easy games.

“We had some amazing games last year but it’s a new year and the teams have different plans and strategies,” he said.

Captains of both Rayyan and Police promised quality matches in the days to come.

“We will not hold back and will give off our best in the Super Cup match as also in the league,” said Rayyan’s Mubarak.

Nader Abu Bakr, the captain of the Police outfit, said, “It’s great to start the new season with a contest against Al Rayyan. We know what they’re capable of and can’t take them lightly. We’ll do our best to start on a winning note.”