The new season of the Saudi Premier League kicks off Saturday. After about three months of preparations Al-Shabab which finished third in 2007 season hosts Najran in Riyadh and Al-Ittifaq plays Al-Watani in Dammam while last season runner-up Al-Ittihad takes the new importer Al-Raed in Jeddah. On Sunday, Al-Ahli and Al-Nasr meet at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh while Abha and Al-Wehdah host Al-Hilal and Al-Hazm respectively. Last season, Al-Hilal was crowned with the league trophy in the first restructured league after the team topped the table with 47 points beating Al-Ittihad 1-0 in the last match of the league. The newcomers this season are Al-Read of Al-Qassim and Abha from Asir region. The two teams came first and second respectively in the first division league to replace Al-Taei and Qadissiyah which failed to stay in the Saudi Premier League. The teams' preparation varied from one team to another due to some financial problems that enveloped many teams at the end of 2007 soccer season. Defending champion Al-Hilal spent about 20 days in Italy and Austria where the team tested some its new players against Italian,Swiss and Greek teams. Al-Ittihad, which came second last season, preferred to have its training camp in Asir while its city rival Al-Ahli had a similar camp in Al-Baha. Al-Shabab, Al-Hazm and Al-Wehdah concluded their preparations for the league in Tunisia while Al-Nasr spent about two weeks in Egypt. About 18 new imports will enrich this season after all teams signed two or three players to build their squad for the league. Swedish international Christian Wilhelmsson who signed for Al-Hilal from French side Nantes and Egyptian Emad Meta'b who will play for Ittihad topped the summer deals considering the players' stature and the amount that the two teams paid. Verdict on Qatar player could take several weeks A verdict on whether FIFA was wrong not to sanction Qatar for fielding an ineligible player in a World Cup qualifier could take several weeks, according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. On Wednesday, CAS heard the case brought by Asian champion Iraq, who complained Qatar's illegal fielding of Brazilian-born Emerson had robbed them of a place in the last round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers. "There was no request by the parties involved for an urgent release of the court's findings," CAS Secretary-General Matthieu Reeb said. "It will be deferred until all parties are notified, which could take a few weeks." FIFA suspended Emerson after discovering he had represented Brazil at youth level under his former name, Marcio Passos De Albuquerque. However, it cleared Qatar of wrongdoing, despite competition rules stating any team "found guilty of fielding an ineligible player shall forfeit the match in question." Ethiopia kicked out of Cup Ethiopia was kicked out of the World Cup by FIFA on Friday after the long-running power struggle within the game in the African nation failed to be resolved. FIFA said all four matches played by Ethiopia in African zone Group 8 are now canceled. The group now comprises three teams - Morocco, Mauritania and Rwanda. Ethiopia had won two matches in the group and had garnered six points. __
