By Mohammed Noorudeen
Northwestern University in Qatar and other Education City universities wind up their football season this week, with NU-Q fighting the Faculty of Islamic Studies Tuesday and Weil-Cornell Medical College in Qatar.
Teams play their opponents twice every season. After every team has played 10 games, points are tallied and the league winners announced.
The long-delayed start of the football season this year, caused by the bad state of the EC pitch and other facility issues, began on Oct. 27 with a match between School of Foreign Services in Qatar and the Academic Bridge Program.
The league had been scheduled to start in early October, but because of the bad state of the football pitch, fans were kept waiting.
Football fever has become infectious however, with strong turnouts for each game.
CMU-Q went eight points clear of second place WCMC-Q, ensuring its league victory after they drew against NU-Q on Dec. 1.This will be CMU-Q’s second league title in 5 years.
The football league, sponsored by the Education City’s sports and recreation department, currently includes six teams from Education City. Every university is permitted to field a team, including the ABP and the Faculty of Islamic Studies. However, Texas A&M University at Qatar, last year’s league winner, has pulled out of the competition this season due to the bad state of the football pitch.
The Hoyas won their first match against ABP and have baffled everyone on the pitch with their strong showing. The Hoyas, formerly known as the underdogs of the tournament, are now ranked third in the league.
The team to look out for, however, are the Tartans from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. The Tartans outstanding performance over the years is hard to compete with and they may emerge to be the winners of this league. The Tartans also boasts the possession of their star striker, Syed Hayan, who is currently the top scorer in the league with 9 goals.
I have come a long way to reach this mark and I have to thank my teammates for their support and inspiration,