2023 Arab Club Champions Cup

2023 Arab Club Champions Cup

2023 King Salman Club Cup
Tournament details
Host country	Saudi Arabia (final tournament)
Dates	Preliminary rounds: 2–5 March 2023 Qualifying rounds: 13 March – 7 July 2023 Competition proper: 27 July – 12 August 2023
Teams	Competition proper: 16 Total: 37 (from 2 confederations) (from 22 associations)
Venue(s)	4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Al-Nassr (1st title)
Runners-up	Al-Hilal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	31
Goals scored	68 (2.19 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Cristiano Ronaldo (6 goals)[1]
Best player(s)	Sergej Milinković-Savić[2]
Best goalkeeper	Nawaf Al-Aqidi[3]
← 2019–20 (Note: Statistics do not include preliminary and qualifying rounds)

The 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, officially named the 2023 King Salman Club Cup (Arabic: كأس الملك سلمان للأندية 2023) after Salman of Saudi Arabia, where the final tournament was hosted, was the 30th season^{[note 1]} of the Arab Club Champions Cup, the Arab world's club football tournament organised by UAFA.^[4]

A total of 37 teams participated in the tournament, which started with preliminary and qualifying rounds, before the final tournament was held in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023 across four cities: Abha, Al Bahah, Khamis Mushait and Taif. A total of $10 million of prize money was awarded.^[5]

Moroccan side Raja CA were the defending champions, having won their second title in the previous edition,^[6] but they lost 3–1 in the quarter-finals to Saudi team Al-Nassr. In the final, Al-Nassr defeated local rivals Al-Hilal 2–1 after extra time to win their first title.

The prize money was as follows:^[7]

Prize money
Winners	$6,000,000
Runners-up	$2,500,000
Semi-finalists	$200,000
Quarter-finalists	$150,000
Group stage	$100,000
Qualifying rounds	$20,000

Sponsorship of 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup:^[8]

Sponsorship
Fly Emirates

A total of 37 teams participated in the tournament.^[9]

On March 3, Egyptian club Al Ahly announced its withdrawal from the competition due to scheduling issues.^[10]

The team entries allocation was based on the FIFA World Ranking of the associations on 22 December 2022.^[9]

Asia Zone Zone Rank Association FIFA World Ranking Teams (19 total) Group stage Qualifying round Preliminary round 1  Saudi Arabia (host) 49 3 1 0 2  Qatar 60 1 1 0 3  Iraq 68 1 1 0 4  United Arab Emirates 70 0 1 0 5  Oman 75 0 2 0 6  Jordan 84 0 1 0 7  Bahrain 85 0 2 0 8  Syria 90 0 1 0 9  Palestine 93 0 1 0 10  Lebanon 100 0 1 0 11  Kuwait 148 0 1 0 12  Yemen 154 0 0 1

Africa Zone Zone Rank Association FIFA World Ranking Teams (18 total) Group stage Qualifying round Preliminary round 1  Morocco 11 2 1 0 2  Tunisia 30 1 2 0 3  Egypt 39 1 1 0 4  Algeria 40 1 1 0 5  Mauritania 103 0 1 0 6  Libya 120 0 2 0 7  Sudan 128 0 2 0 8  Comoros 129 0 0 1 9  Djibouti 193 0 0 1 10  Somalia 204 0 0 1

		Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round
Preliminary round (4 teams)		4 teams
First qualifying round (24 teams)		23 teams	1 winner from the preliminary round
Second qualifying round (12 teams)			12 winners from the first qualifying round
Group stage (16 teams)		10 teams: Previous edition title holder Previous edition runners-up Algerian champions Egyptian champions Iraqi champions Moroccan champions Qatari champions Saudi Arabian champions Tunisian champions Host nation team	6 winners from the second qualifying round
Knockout phase (8 teams)			4 group winners from the group stage 4 group runners-up from the group stage

The labels in the parentheses show each team's position from their last season domestic league table standing.

Entry round Teams Group stage Raja CA (2nd)[TH] Ittihad Jeddah (2nd)[RU] CR Belouizdad (1st) Zamalek (1st) Al-Shorta (1st) Wydad AC (1st) Al-Sadd (1st) Al-Hilal (1st) Espérance de Tunis (1st) Al-Nassr (3rd)[HN] Qualifying rounds JS Saoura (3rd) Manama Club (2nd) Al-Muharraq (4th) Tala'ea El-Gaish (4th) Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (2nd) Shabab Al-Ordon (4th) Kuwait SC (1st) Bourj (3rd) Al-Ittihad Tripoli (1st) Al-Ahli Tripoli (2nd) FC Nouadhibou (1st) ASFAR (3rd) Al-Seeb (1st) Al-Nahda (2nd) Shabab Al-Khalil (1st) Qatar SC (9th) Al-Shabab (4th) Al-Hilal Omdurman (1st) Al-Merrikh (2nd) Tishreen (1st) US Monastir (2nd) CS Sfaxien (3rd) Al-Wahda (3rd) Preliminary rounds Volcan Club (1st) Arta Solar 7 (1st) Horseed FC (1st) Fahman (1st)

Notes

The schedule was as follows.^[11][12]

Stage	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg	Host
Preliminary rounds	First round	No draw	2 March 2023		Saudi Arabia
	Playoff round		5 March 2023
Qualifying rounds	First round	6 March 2023	13 March – 7 April 2023	21 March – 16 April 2023	Home and away matches
	Second round		8 May – 4 July 2023	11 May – 7 July 2023
Group stage	Matchday 1		27–28 July 2023		Saudi Arabia
	Matchday 2		30–31 July 2023
	Matchday 3		2–3 August 2023
Knockout stage	Quarter-finals		5–6 August 2023
	Semi-finals		9 August 2023
	Final		12 August 2023

4 teams played the preliminary rounds starting with the first round then a play-off round in a one-leg knockout format. 1 team from the preliminary round advanced to the qualifying rounds.

The following teams entered the preliminary rounds as lowest FIFA ranking associations.

Teams entered the preliminary rounds
Volcan Club Arta Solar 7 Horseed FC Fahman

	First preliminary round				Playoff round
	2 March – Jeddah
	Arta Solar 7	2
					5 March – Jeddah
	Volcan Club	0
					Arta Solar 7	1
	2 March – Jeddah
					Fahman	2
	Fahman	3
	Horseed FC	0

24 teams were drawn into two-leg knockout stage format. 23 teams entered directly to the first qualifying round, plus one team advanced from the preliminary round. 12 teams advanced to the second qualifying round playing a two-leg knockout stage format. 6 teams only advanced from the second qualifying round to the group stage.^[13]

The following 24 teams were divided based on their football association's FIFA Ranking.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
JS Saoura Tala'ea El-Gaish ASFAR Al-Shabab CS Sfaxien US Monastir	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Shabab Al-Ordon Al-Nahda Al-Seeb Qatar SC Al-Wahda	Al-Muharraq Manama Club Bourj FC Nouadhibou Shabab Al-Khalil Tishreen	Kuwait SC Al-Ahli Tripoli Al-Ittihad Tripoli Al-Hilal Omdurman Al-Merrikh Fahman[PRE]

Notes

The first legs were played between 13 March and 7 April 2023, and the second legs between 21 March and 16 April 2023.^[14]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ASFAR	5–4	Al-Ittihad Tripoli	4–1	1–3
Bourj	0–4[A]	Al-Wahda	0–3	0–1
Al-Merrikh	2–2 (a)[B]	Tishreen	2–1	0–1
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–5[C]	Al-Shabab	1–1	0–4
Al-Hilal Omdurman	4–2	Manama Club	3–0	1–2
CS Sfaxien	1–1 (a)	Qatar SC	0–0	1–1
Tala'ea El-Gaish	2–3	Al-Ahli Tripoli	1–2	1–1
Al-Nahda	5–0	Shabab Al-Khalil	2–0	3–0 (awd.)[D]
Fahman	0–6	US Monastir	0–4	0–2
Al-Muharraq	2–2 (5–4 p)	Al-Seeb	2–0	0–2
FC Nouadhibou	4–2	Shabab Al-Ordon	4–1	0–1
Kuwait SC	2–1	JS Saoura	1–0	1–1

Notes

ASFAR won 5–4 on aggregate.

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Al-Wahda won 4–0 on aggregate.

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2–2 on aggregate. Tishreen won on away goals.

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Al-Shabab won 5–1 on aggregate.

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Al-Hilal Omdurman won 4–2 on aggregate.

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1–1 on aggregate. CS Sfaxien won on away goals.

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Al-Ahli Tripoli won 3–2 on aggregate.

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Al-Nahda won 5–0 on aggregate.
Al-Nahda were awarded a 3–0 walkover victory for the second leg after Shabab Al-Khalil refused to change the home ground from Dura International Stadium, in Dura, Hebron to Petra Stadium in Amman, Jordan.

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US Monastir won 6–0 on aggregate.

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2–2 on aggregate. Al-Muharraq won 5–4 on penalties.

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FC Nouadhibou won 4–2 on aggregate.

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Kuwait SC won 2–1 on aggregate.

The second qualifying first legs were played between 7 May and 4 July 2023, and the second legs between 11 May and 7 July 2023.^[16]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ASFAR	0–3	Al-Wahda	0–0	0–3
Tishreen	2–4[A]	Al-Shabab	1–1	1–3
Al-Hilal Omdurman	1–2[B]	CS Sfaxien	1–0	0–2
Al-Ahli Tripoli	4–2	Al-Nahda	4–2	0–0
US Monastir	3–0	Al-Muharraq	2–0	1–0
FC Nouadhibou	1–3	Kuwait SC	1–2	0–1

Notes

Al-Wahda won 3–0 on aggregate.

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Al-Shabab won 4–2 on aggregate.

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CS Sfaxien won 2–1 on aggregate.

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Al-Ahli Tripoli won 4–2 on aggregate.

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US Monastir won 3–0 on aggregate.

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Kuwait SC won 3–1 on aggregate.

The final tournament was held in Saudi Arabia from 27 July to 12 August 2023, across four cities: Abha, Al Bahah, Khamis Mushait and Taif. 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. Ten teams already entered the group stage directly as league champions from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. In addition the previous edition holders and runners-up, and one invitee selected by UAFA from the host nation enters directly to the group stage. Six teams advanced from the qualifying rounds to complete the 16-teams group stage. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.^[17]

All of the qualified teams for the group stage were as follows:

Teams entered directly to the group stage	Teams qualified from the qualifying round
CR Belouizdad Zamalek Al-Shorta Raja CA[TH] Wydad AC Al-Sadd Al-Hilal Al-Nassr[HN] Ittihad Jeddah[RU] Espérance de Tunis	Kuwait SC Al-Ahli Tripoli Al-Shabab CS Sfaxien US Monastir Al-Wahda

10 teams were directly qualified to the final tournament divided in pot 1, pot 2, and pot 3 based on their football association's FIFA Ranking. The other 6 teams' slots who qualified from the quaifying rounds were drawn in pot 3 and pot 4 prior to this stage.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Zamalek Raja CA Wydad AC Espérance de Tunis	CR Belouizdad Al-Hilal Al-Nassr Ittihad Jeddah	Al-Shorta Al-Sadd Al-Shabab (Q2) Al-Wahda (Q1)	Kuwait SC (Q6) Al-Ahli Tripoli (Q4) CS Sfaxien (Q3) US Monastir (Q5)

Group A Pos Team A1 Espérance de Tunis A2 Ittihad Jeddah A3 CS Sfaxien A4 Al-Shorta

Group B Pos Team B1 Al-Sadd B2 Wydad AC B3 Al-Ahli Tripoli B4 Al-Hilal

Group C Pos Team C1 Zamalek C2 US Monastir C3 Al-Nassr C4 Al-Shabab

Group D Pos Team D1 CR Belouizdad D2 Raja CA D3 Kuwait SC D4 Al-Wahda

Final tournament venues being played in Saudi Arabia in four host cities in Abha, Al Bahah, Khamis Mushait and Taif.

Saudi Arabia
Abha	Al Bahah	Khamis Mushait	Taif
Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium	King Saud Sport City Stadium	Damac Club Stadium	King Fahd Stadium
Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 20,000
Abha Al Bahah Khamis Mushait Taif

16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations IV. 8):

1. Goal difference in all group matches;
2. Goals scored in all group matches;
3. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
5. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
6. Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
   • Yellow card: −1 point;
   • Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
   • Direct red card: −4 points;
   • Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
7. Drawing of lots.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ittihad Jeddah	3	3	0	0	5	2	+3	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Al-Shorta	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	Espérance de Tunis	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
4	CS Sfaxien	3	0	1	2	0	2	−2	1

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Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al-Sadd	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Al-Hilal	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
3	Wydad AC	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	2
4	Al-Ahli Tripoli	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2

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Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Al-Shabab	3	2	1	0	2	0	+2	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Al-Nassr	3	1	2	0	5	2	+3	5
3	Zamalek	3	1	1	1	5	2	+3	4
4	US Monastir	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8	0

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Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Raja CA	3	3	0	0	5	1	+4	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Al-Wahda	3	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
3	CR Belouizdad	3	0	1	2	3	5	−2	1
4	Kuwait SC	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

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The knockout phase involved the 8 teams which qualified as winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage. The quarter-finals were followed by semi-finals, and the final played in a single leg knockout format. In the case of a draw after 90 minutes, extra time would be played only in the final.

Group	Winners	Runners-up
A	Ittihad Jeddah	Al-Shorta
B	Al-Sadd	Al-Hilal
C	Al-Shabab	Al-Nassr
D	Raja CA	Al-Wahda

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	5 August – Taif
	Ittihad Jeddah	1
					9 August – Taif
	Al-Hilal	3
					Al-Hilal	3
	6 August – Taif
					Al-Shabab	1
	Al-Shabab (p)	0 (5)
									12 August – Taif
	Al-Wahda	0 (4)
									Al-Hilal	1
	5 August – Abha
									Al-Nassr (a.e.t.)	2
	Al-Sadd	2
					9 August – Abha
	Al-Shorta	4
					Al-Shorta	0
	6 August – Abha
					Al-Nassr	1
	Raja CA	1
	Al-Nassr	3

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Rank	Player	Team	GS1	GS2	GS3	QF	SF	F	Total
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	Al-Nassr		1	1	1	1	2	6
2	Karim Benzema	Ittihad Jeddah	1	1	1				3
3	Malcom	Al-Hilal				1	1		2
	Michael	Al-Hilal		1				1
	Salem Al-Dawsari	Al-Hilal		1		1
	Sergej Milinković-Savić	Al-Hilal			1	1
	Aso Rostam	Al-Shorta				2
	Éver Banega	Al-Shabab		1	1
	Akram Afif	Al-Sadd				2
	Sayed Abdallah	Zamalek	2
	Zizo	Zamalek	1		1

38 players scored 1 goal
Rank	Player	Team	GS1	GS2	GS3	QF	SF	F	Total
12	Rúben Neves	Al-Hilal			1				1
	Abdullah Al-Hamdan	Al-Hilal					1
	Mohamed Kanno	Al-Hilal					1
	Talisca	Al-Nassr		1
	Seko Fofana	Al-Nassr				1
	Abdulelah Al-Amri	Al-Nassr		1
	Abdulaziz Al-Elewai	Al-Nassr		1
	Sultan Al-Ghannam	Al-Nassr				1
	Alaa Abdul-Zahra	Al-Shorta	1
	Ahmed Farhan	Al-Shorta				1
	Ameer Sabah Khudhair	Al-Shorta				1
	Abdoul Madjid Moumouni	Al-Shorta			1
	Gustavo Cuéllar	Al-Shabab					1
	Yousri Bouzok	Raja CA	1
	Bouchaib Arrassi	Raja CA	1
	Zakaria El Wardi	Raja CA			1
	Houssine Rahimi	Raja CA		1
	Mohamed Zrida	Raja CA		1
	Baghdad Bounedjah	Al-Sadd		1
	Paulo Otávio	Al-Sadd			1
	Gonzalo Plata	Al-Sadd		1
	Tarek Salman	Al-Sadd		1
	Romarinho	Ittithad Jeddah				1
	Abderrazak Hamdallah	Ittithad Jeddah	1
	Ahmed Bamsaud	Ittithad Jeddah			1
	Cristian Guanca	Al-Wahda		1
	Facundo Kruspzky	Al-Wahda		1
	João Pedro	Al-Wahda	1
	Suhail Al-Mansoori	Al-Wahda	1
	Mohamed Islam Belkhir	CR Belouizdad			1
	Aimen Bouguerra	CR Belouizdad		1
	Mouad Hadded	CR Belouizdad	1
	Ahmed Al-Dhefiri	Kuwait SC	1
	Taha Yassine Khenissi	Kuwait SC			1
	Ahmed Krawa'a	Al-Ahli Tripoli		1
	Saifeddine Bouhra	Wydad AC			1
	Ayoub El Amloud	Wydad AC		1
	Oussama Bouguerra	Espérance de Tunis	1

Rank	Player	Team	P1	PO	1Q1	1Q2	2Q1	2Q2	Total
1	Taha Yassine Khenissi	Kuwait SC				1	1	1	3
	Boubacar Traore	US Monastir			2		1
	Abdelghafour Mihri	Al-Ittihad Tripoli				3
4	Mohamed Marhoon	Kuwait SC			1		1		2
	Mohamed El Monir	Al-Ahli Tripoli			1		1
	Anis Saltou	Al-Ahli Tripoli				1	1
	Hemeya Tanjy	FC Nouadhibou			2
	Ousmane Faye	FC Nouadhibou			2
	Mustapha Sahd	ASFAR			1	1
	Omar Al-Maliki	Al-Nahda			1		1
	Aaron Boupendza	Al-Shabab			1	1
	Ahmed Abdu Jaber	Al-Shabab
	Mohamed Abdelrahman	Al-Hilal Omdurman			1		1
	Abdulrazzaq Al-Mohamad	Tishreen			1	1
	Idriss Mhirsi	US Monastir			2
	Allan	Al-Wahda				1		1
	Abdul Aziz Al-Muqbali	Al-Seeb				2
	Aidarous Awad	Fahman		2

51 players scored 1 goal
Rank	Player	Team	P1	PO	1Q1	1Q2	2Q1	2Q2	Total
19	Hacène Ogbi	Al-Muharraq			1				1
	Victor Arboleda	Al-Muharraq			1
	Ahmed El Trbi	Al-Ahli Tripoli					1
	Ali Maatouk	Al-Ahli Tripoli			1
	Noureddine Qulaib	Al-Ahli Tripoli					1
	Mouhsine Bodda	FC Nouadhibou					1
	Joseph Guédé Gnadou	ASFAR			1
	Adam Ennafati	ASFAR			1
	Ahmad Hamoudan	ASFAR			1
	Rabia Al-Alawi	Al-Nahda					1
	Demba Camara	Al-Nahda			1
	Ever Banega	Al-Shabab				1
	Cristian Guanca	Al-Shabab				1
	Carlos	Al-Shabab						1
	Hassan Al-Tambakti	Al-Shabab				1
	Santi Mina	Al-Shabab					1
	Makabi Lilepo	Al-Hilal Omdurman			1
	Fabrice Ngoma	Al-Hilal Omdurman			1
	David Abagna	Al-Hilal Omdurman				1
	Ahmad Hatem	Tishreen						1
	Khaled Mobayed	Tishreen					1
	Mohamed Kanté	CS Sfaxien				1
	Baraket Hmidi	CS Sfaxien						1
	Aziz Saihi	CS Sfaxien						1
	Abdelkader Boutiche	US Monastir					1
	Youssouf Oumarou	US Monastir						1
	Zied Aloui	US Monastir				1
	Ahmed Jaffali	US Monastir				1
	Facundo Kruspzky	Al-Wahda						1
	João Pedro	Al-Wahda						1
	Matheus Pereira	Al-Wahda			1
	Alaeddine Zouhir	Al-Wahda			1
	Abdullah Al Karbi	Al-Wahda			1
	Lyes Doucene	JS Saoura				1
	Ebrahim Al-Khatal	Manama Club				1
	Isa Moosa	Manama Club				1
	Karim Tarek	Tala'ea El-Gaish			1
	Paul Julius	Tala'ea El-Gaish				1
	Karrar Nabeel	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya			1
	Wasim Alrialat	Shabab Al-Ordon			1
	Saleem Obaid	Shabab Al-Ordon				1
	Muad Eisa	Al-Ittihad Tripoli			1
	Javier Pastore	Qatar SC				1
	Paulo Sergio	Al-Merrikh			1
	Al-Jezoli Nouh	Al-Merrikh			1
	Wajdi Alratil	Fahman	1
	Mohammed Mahdi	Fahman	1
	Suleiman Rajeh	Fahman	1
	Alain Traoré	Arta Solar 7		1
	Samuel Akinbinu	Arta Solar 7	1
	Salomon Kalou	Arta Solar 7	1

The following channels broadcast the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup.^[18][19]

2023 Arab Club Champions Cup Media Coverage
Country/Region	Television Channel
Italy	Final: Sportitalia[20]
Middle East and North Africa	Qualifying rounds only: Alkass Sports Channels KSA Sport AD Sports Dubai Sports Final tournament: SSC (Streaming via Shahid)

• UAFA Official website (in Arabic)