Egypt used to have maybe the longest football season in the world. For instance, last season started 18 September 2023 and ended on 18 August 2024.
During those 11 months, Euro 2024 was held, but we kept on playing, and the Paris Olympics were held, but we kept on playing. Most of the world stopped to watch these two mammoth sports events, but we kept on playing.
To put the super-long scheduling in more hilarious context, in 2024 the English Premier began on 11 August while the Egyptian league wrapped up one week later.
Here comes the biggest doozy. The all-time Egyptian world record for extended absurdity was set in 2018 when the league lasted from 31 July to 28 July the following year - three days short of a full year. Good thing that the players had those 72 hours of rest to prepare for the season ahead.
But the Egyptian league is no longer the butt of length-wise jokes. It has a new slimmed down arrangement which should receive its fair share of plaudits.
Under the new set-up, the league remains 18 teams. What has changed is the number of games played. This season, instead of the teams playing each other home and away for a total of 34 games each, every team will initially play the first 17 games of the season – that’s the midway point – meeting each other only once.
After that, the league will split up into two groups of nine teams each. Teams that are one to nine in the standings after 17 games are in Group A while the Group B teams will be composed of those who are in 10th to 18th place.
The teams in each group will play eight games each. The teams in Group A will not play against those in Group B.
The winner of the league title will be the one who finishes first in Group A. If at the end, two or more teams are tied in points, the tie-breaker will be who did better in face-to-face encounters and if that doesn’t work, then goal difference.
One important point to keep in mind: the teams will go to the group stage with the number of points they collected in the first 17 games. Whatever number of points they win in the group stage will simply be added on to what they originally have.
This is unlike most professional leagues in football and other sports in the West in which the regular season is one thing and playoffs the other. At the start of playoffs, the teams start from scratch, with no points. In the new-look Egyptian league, you keep what you already have.
The makeover means Egyptian teams will now play nine games less, down to 25 games from the original 34.
Subsequently the season will be significantly shorter. It started on 30 October and is scheduled to end on 30 May.
The competition in Group A will definitely be fiercer while that of Group B will definitely be tamer, more so since only two teams will be relegated, not the usual three.
There will be no opportunity in the second stage for goldfish to swallow whales: no opportunity for those in Group B to act as giant-killers slaying the goliaths of Group A, even though it’s these sorts of upsets that football dreams are made of.
There will also be no opportunity for teams in Group B to reach one of the top three positions in Group A no matter how good they play in the group stage (the first two places are reserved for appearances in the African Champions League, and third place for the African Confederation Cup).
It’s these kinds of tournaments, by the way, coupled with the Egyptian Cup, Egyptian Super Cup, Egyptian League Cup, Super African Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, ACN qualifiers, World Cup qualifiers, Club World Cup, Intercontinental Cup, and national friendlies that made the seasons such slow-motion marathons.
The new system, loosely styled on the Belgian Pro League, was thought up by the previous Egyptian Football Association. To its credit, the new EFA has, as we approach the second stage, helped the format along by making sure the 18 teams have played more or less the same number of games. Right now, every team has played 15 matches. This razor-sharp alignment never used to happen. What we would normally see are some teams who are occupied with African club championships playing up to six or seven games less than the others, creating childish catch-up football.
This new league is being tried for the first time in Egypt. It is a trial run that is supposed to continue, but feedback after the season ends is essential from players, coaches, club managements, the EFA, TV revenues, fans, studio analysts, columnists, and social media chatter.
In Arabic, the Egyptian league is called Dowry El-Nile, named after the majestic ancient river that courses through the country. The Nile is eternal - and that’s what the Egyptian football season used to be. Maybe after this season, the league will choose a different name.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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