Qatar-UAE Super Cup, Super Shield set for April as ties warm

Two Qatar-UAE football competitions are to take place this April, three years after the two countries signed a reconciliation agreement.

The Super Cup and Super Shield will take place on two consecutive days and will see Qatari and Emirati teams face off in Doha and Dubai.

Qatari and Emirati sporting officials met in Doha and Friday and signed an agreement for the competitions, the football associations of the two countries said.

Qatar Stars League, Qatari football's top flight, said that the competitions were "a landmark football event underscoring the collaborative spirit between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates".

The Super Cup will take place in Doha on 12 April and will see Qatari side Al-Arabi take on Emirati side Sharjah.

Al-Arabi is the current holder of the domestic Amir Cup, while Sharjah are President's Cup winner.

The Super Shield will take place on 13 April in Dubai and will see the Emirati and Qatari league champions – Shabab Al Ahli and Al-Duhail – face each other in Dubai.

The announcement of the football competitions comes three years after the two Gulf countries signed the Al-Ula agreement to reconcile ties.

Ties between the two states soured dramatically in 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed all ties with Qatar and imposed a blockade over accusations that it supported terrorism and that it had forged closer ties with Iran.

Doha vehemently denied the charges, saying that its Gulf neighbours were trying to impose "hegemony" over it. 

The GCC countries and Egypt's signing of the agreement brought the blockade of Qatar to a formal end.

Despite the reconciliation, some distrust remains between the two countries, experts have said.

Qatar is currently hosting the AFC Asian Cup and hosted the World Cup in 2022. Qatar and the UAE cooperated for the World Cup, with the Emirati government offering multi-entry visas to visitors attending the tournament.