Pro League resumes on weekend

AMMAN — The 71st  Jordan Professional League resumes action on Friday following a  break during which club players were busy on national duty.

Week 5 of the league kicks off with Hussein atop the standings after they took the lead following Faisali’s 3-2 defeat to Wihdat. The Hussein vs Wihdat and Faisali vs Aqaba matches are postponed this week as Faisali host Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshiin the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions Leagueround robin group stages on September 18. Wihdat, who lost to Ahli Dubai in the preliminary round of the Champions League, now move to play in the AFC Cup and host Aleppo’s Ittihad on September 19.

Meanwhile, Wihdat beat Faisali to win the Jordan Super Cup for their 15thtime while Faisali are a record 17-time champions. Reigning Pro League champs Faisali won their 9th Jordan Football Association Shield, while the Jordan Cup will start September 25.

In the 2022 season, the Pro League saw a close-fought contest at both ends of the standings.Faisali won the league title one point ahead of Wihdat and Hussein who tied in overall points and finished second and third respectively. They were followed by Shabab Urdun, Aqaba, Ramtha, Ma’an, Salt , Sahab, Mugheer Sarhan, Sarih and Jazira.

A three-time league champ veteran Jazira, were relegated alongside Sarih, while Ahli and Jalil were promoted from the First Division. Jazira’s relegation was the fourth time– 1977, 1992, 2003, 2022 after the club was a frontrunner in the past five years and played in the AFC West Asia Zone final in 2018 and 2019.In 2021, Ramtha won the League crown for the third time in their history after 39 years.