Italian Super Cup final to be held in Doha

The Italian Super Cup final between Juventus and Milan will take place on December 23 in Doha, in what represents the first opportunity of lifting silverware during the 2016/17 football season, it was announced on Friday.

Serie A President Maurizio Beretta commented: "We are proud to bring one of Italy's most important football match to Doha for the second time in three years.

"Qatar has been a great partner and have demonstrated the know-how, passion and hospitality to organise our event at the highest level."

The trophy is normally fought for between the winner of the Serie A championship and that of the Coppa Italia. With Juventus winning both the 2015-16 Serie A championship and the 2015-16 Coppa Italia, the game will be played between Juventus and the 2015-16 Coppa Italia runners-up Milan.

This will be the ninth time that the Super Cup has been contested outside of Italy with previous matches held in Washington (1993), Tripoli (2002), New York (2003), Beijing (2009, 2011 and 2012), Doha (2014) and Shanghai (2015).

This is the second time the capital of the state of Qatar has been selected for this trophy, as it was played for between Napoli and Juventus in 2014, when the former team won on penalties.

--IANS

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