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Arab World Club Cup

Arab Club Championship
البطولة العربية للأندية
Arab Club Championship logo.png
Founded 1980; 37 years ago (1980)
Region Arab world (UAFA)
Number of teams 12 (group stage)
20 (total)
Current champions Algeria USM Alger (1st title)
Most successful club(s) Iraq Al-Rasheed (3 titles)
Website uafaonline.com
2016–17 Arab Club Championship

The Arab Club Championship is an annual regional club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by elite clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by 20 teams, 10 from the Asian Football Confederation and 10 from the Confederation of African Football, all 20 of which are either winners or runners-up of their country's league or cup competition.

Founded in 1980 as the Arab Club Champions Cup, the tournament was held alongside the Arab Cup Winners' Cup and the Arab Super Cup throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, until the Cup Winners' Cup was merged with the Champions Cup in 2002 with the Super Cup therefore being discontinued. The tournament's first ever champions were Iraqi giants Al-Shorta, who defeated Lebanese side Al-Nejmeh in the final over two legs in 1982. Al-Rasheed, also from Iraq, are the most successful club in the competition's history, having won the tournament three times in the 1980s.

Saudi Arabian clubs have accumulated the most victories, with eight wins. The title has been won by 18 different clubs, seven of which have the title more than once. Since the tournament was merged with the Cup Winners' Cup, only ES Sétif of Algeria have managed consecutive wins, successfully defending their title in 2008. The reigning champions are USM Alger, after beating Al-Arabi 3–2 on aggregate in the 2013 final. After being put on hold for three seasons, the tournament has returned for the 2016–17 season.


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Wikipedia

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