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Al Markhiya could not just be an exception to retain their place in the top flight after getting promoted. They, however, almost did it. However, they were done in by some administrative mistakes that contributed to the team’s relegation to the Second Division.

Al Markhiya started their league campaign under Qatari coach Youssef Adam with professional players Tijan, Alan Traore, Kwame Karikari and Rebin Solaka. The Oryxes also lined up Qatari players Mesaab Mahmoud, Nasser Al Nasr, Saleh Al Yazidi, Medhath Mustafa and then Anas Mubarak, Bilal Mohammed and Abdulqadir Ilyas.

The results did not go their way and they suffered setbacks one after the other.

Nevertheless, Al Markhiya put up some good displays and showed harmony between the players. But that was not enough to fetch them victories and points.

They also suffered from a lack of efficiency offensively in many matches and that was the main reason for changing two professional players in the winter transfer window. Traore was sent back and Karikari was transferred to Al Arabi.

Interestingly, Karikari excelled with his new team and played an instrumental role in their four-match winning streak towards the end.

Traore and Karikari were replaced with Brazilians Erick de Oliveira and Leonardo de Souza. They signed Al Duhail goalkeeper Mohamed Al Bakri on loan, Ivan Rodrigues and Aden Ali in addition to Yemeni player Ammar Hamsan.

And the team management replaced Youssef with Tunisian Adel Sellimi.

The new efforts too did not give them the desired results and much-needed points.

Al Markhiya paid the price for two administrative mistakes and thus lost six crucial points. They beat Al Sadd in Week 1, but the result was overturned as they fielded an ineligible player (Saleh Al Yahri who was serving suspension).

Then, in Week 18, they defeated Al Gharafa, but that result was also overturned by the Qatar Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee for violating the rule regarding fielding of resident players.

Al Gharafa had lodged a complaint, claiming that the rivals fielded six resident players. The number of resident players to be included in the team list in the QNB Stars League fixtures should not exceed five.

After Week 21, Al Markhiya have 12 points from only two wins, six draws and 13 defeats. They scored 18 goals and conceded 41.

They play Umm Salal in Week 22.

All said and done, Al Markhiya will be remembered for putting up some fighting performances.

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