The participants
Zenit Football Club are the organisers of the tournament and will compete with three international clubs for the trophy. This will be the first time Zenit will face each of their opponents.
Santos
The Brazilian football club are from Sao Paulo and Santos are one of the most famous clubs in Brazilian football. The eight-time champions and three-time winners of the Copa Libertadores have seen such legendary players as Pele, Neymar, Robinho, Dunga, Ze Roberto, Gilmar and more wear the famous Santos colours.
Shanghai Shenhua
The Shanghai based club play in the Chinese Super league and Shenhua have won the league title once, are seven-time league runners-up, four-time winners of the CFA Cup and have lifted the Chinese Super Cup on three occasions. They are one of just four clubs to have never been relegated from the Chinese top flight. Shanghai Shenhua are currently managed by former Russian national team boss Leonid Slutsky.
Al-Duhail
The team from Doha are the current Qatari Stars League champions and have eight league titles to their name. Al-Duhail have also won four Qatari Cups and four Emir of Qatar Cups. They recently competed in the group stages of the Asian Champions League, finishing third in their group after facing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and the Iranian champions Persepolis.
Tournament format
The four teams will play each other once and if scores are level after normal time, the result will be decided by a penalty shootout. There will be no extra time.
Standings will be determined by the following points system
* Three points for a win in normal time
* Two points for a win on penalties after a draw
* One point for a loss on penalties after a draw
* No points for a loss in normal time
If two teams have the same number of points their league placement will be decided by the following factors in the specified order.
Number of points, number of wins, goal difference, number of goals scored.
* Most points scored from all matches
* The most wins in normal time in all matches
* The best goal difference from goals scored and goals conceded in normal time from all matches
* The most goals scored in normal time from all matches
* Goal difference between goals scored and goals conceded in penalty shootouts
* Based on the club’s coefficient rating.
Fixture list
7.30pm, 1 February
Shanghai Shenhua v Al-Duhail
5pm, 4 February
Santos v Shanghai Shenhua
5pm, 5 February
Zenit v Al-Duhail
5pm, 8 February
Zenit v Shanghai Shenhua
5pm, 9 February
Santos v Al-Duhail
5pm, 13 February
Zenit v Santos
Tournament location
The Equality Cup will take place at Doha’s Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, located near the Al Sudan metro station on the Golden Line. The stadium was built in 1975 and has been renovated twice since then, in 2004 and 2010.
The Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium has hosted Qatari national team matches, the 2006 Asian Games, the 2014 and 2016 Italian Super Cups, and Club World Cup games.
During the recent Qatari World Cup, the arena was used by the French national team for training.
Fans will be admitted to matches and entry to all Equality Cup games will be free of charge.
The tournament is organised in partnership with Aspire Zone Foundation.
