The Qatar Universities Football League tournament got off to a rocky start as the opening game between Qatar University and Northwestern University in Qatar on Wednesday was called off at the last minute due to unplayable field conditions. 

The organizing committee declared Education City’s Pitch 2 unsuitable after inspection and rescheduled the match to a later date. 

The players from both teams initially complained about the pitch’s size and condition, saying patches of the ground were covered with sand and the markings were not visible. 

The NU-Q  team contested the decision to reschedule, saying QU was unable to field 11 players until 30 minutes after the scheduled kickoff, and asking for an automatic three points. 

“That [pitch condition] is not our responsibility,” NU-Q coach Farouk Essahli said. “It is the responsibility of the authorities that are organizing everything to make sure that the pitch is ready days in advance, not at 7:30 when the whistle is about to blow.

“The right thing to do is to award us the three points for respecting a professional league and coming on time,” he added. 

The QU football team said it was misinformed about the match time and only found out about the schedule 10 minutes before kickoff. QU players declined to comment further on the issue. 

The NU-Q team is expected to file a written complaint with the Qatar Foundation and Qatar Collegiate Sports Federation detailing its reasons to claim an automatic victory.

Should the result favor NU-Q, tournament favorite QU will find its back to  the wall, facing an unexpected early loss that would give an advantage to the other league favorite, the University of Doha for Science and Technology.

Due to pitch conditions, the other opening-day game between American University of Afghanistan and Ahmed Bin Mohammed Military College was also rescheduled. 

The Qatar Universities Football League tournament, scheduled to run from Oct. 18 to March 9, is organized by QCSF with the support of the Qatar Foundation, the Qatar Football Association, UDST and QU. Eleven teams are scheduled to play 66 matches across three venues.