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This week Spanish football legend Xavi Hernandez said farewell to the game as a player, ending his first chapter with Qatar's Al-Sadd.

With football seasons in the Middle East coming to a close, there have been some unpredictable ends to league battles.

Qatar has announced that Felix Sanchez will extend his contract until the 2022 World Cup in the country.

Troubles are afoot in one of Saudi Arabia's establishment clubs, Al-Hilal, while Spain's Super Cup could be heading to the kingdom.

Sudanese football players are supporting the tens of thousands of protesters confronting the regime's security forces.

Lebanon's Nejmeh refused to enter the occupied West Bank, forfeiting its match to Hilal al-Quds, as derbies played out across the region.

Burundi, Tanzania, Namibia and Kenya will all take to the AFCON field, while Israel and Turkey both got their Euro 2020 campaigns off to a flying start.

The Middle East has turned this week to New Zealand, where a horrific terror attack in a mosque took the lives of 50 people.

No AFC Cup match had ever been played in the occupied Palestinian territories, until Jordanian champions Al-Wehdat this week took on Palestine's champions, Hilal al-Quds.

Across Algeria, fans showed the football community cannot remain indifferent to politics and social events, chanting against Bouteflika's now-cancelled bid for re-election.