Al-Karamah SC

Al-Karamah active sections
; Football	; Basketball

Al Karamah SC
Full name	Al-Karamah SC
Nickname(s)	Blue Eagles ; Eagles of Asia
Founded	1928; 96 years ago as Khalid ibn al-Walid Club
Ground	Khalid ibn al-Walid Stadium; Bassel al-Assad Stadium
Capacity	32,000; 25,000
Chairman	Samer al-Shaar; Mohammed Rahif Hakmi (Honor)
Manager	Fawaz Mando
League	Syrian Premier League
2023–24	6th
Website	https://www.facebook.com/AlKarama.SC1928/
Home colours	Away colours

Al-Karamah SC (Arabic: نادي الكرامة الرياضي) is a Syrian professional football club based in the city of Homs. Founded in 1928, it is considered to be one of Asia's oldest sporting clubs.^{[citation needed]} The club has won eight Syrian League titles and eight Syrian Cup titles. It also was the first Syrian club to win both the league and cup titles in the same year. The club is based at the Khaled Ibn Al Walid Stadium. In 2008, the club formed Board of Honor comprising businessmen^[1] of the city of Homs to support the club activities and Dr Mohammed Rahif Hakmi^[2] was elected as the board chairman.

The club covers other sports such as basketball, handball, table tennis, tennis and athletics for both, males and females. In addition to boxing, freestyle wrestling, judo, karate, weightlifting and cycling.^{[citation needed]}

History

Early period (1928–1972)

Khaled bin Al-Walid Club was established in 1928 at the time of French mandate through the city's youth who thought of establishing a sports club that would include them and allow them to practice sports officially.^{[citation needed]}

After they founded the club, their first championship was in the game on April 25, 1948, where they won the Qatar championship as representatives of the national team Homs, and Khaled Club maintained its title the following year and then returned to win the Syria championship in 1952.^{[citation needed]}

On February 18, 1971, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad issued Legislative Decree No. /38/ regulating the sports movement in the Syrian Arab Republic and the sports clubs were merged by a decision of the Executive Office of the General Sports Federation No. /59 The date of August 18, 1972, and Al-Karama Club is the outcome of the merger of several civil clubs in the city of Homs.^{[citation needed]}

First league and cup titles (1972–2005)

In the 1974–75 season, Al-Karama won the first league championship. Then he took the lead by collecting the League and the Cup for the first time in the season 1982–83, and then, during the 1983–84 season, he wanted to repeat the achievement, so he held the league championship and was not allowed to hold the cup when he was considered a legal loser against Al-Ittihad despite his progress with the match result due to the rioting of his fans. That meeting was in the semi-finals of the competition, but they returned to carry the Cup of the Republic in the year 1987, and then to repeat their achievement in the 1995–96 season, in which they won the League Championship and then the Republic Cup led, and competed with Al-Jaish in the seasons 1998–99 and 2000–01 and finished as runners-up led by Muhammad Quwaid, as well as in the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons.^{[citation needed]}

Domestic doubles and continental success (2005–2010)

In 2006, the club led by Muhammad Quwid participated in the AFC Champions League as the league's runners-up of the previous season, in which they reached the finals, winning most of the major Asian football teams. In the group stage, they had to compete against Al Wahda from the UAE, Saba Battery from Iran with the team was led by the international goal scorer Ali Daei and Al-Gharafa from Qatar. They finished at the top of their group and qualified for the Asian CL quarter-finals with 4 wins and 2 losses.^[3] In the quarter-finals, the club caused a tie with an overall aggregate score of 4–2 .^[4] The club moved on to play Al-Qadisya of Kuwait in the semi-final. The first leg was in Homs, Syria, resulting in a 0–0 draw. The return leg was in Kuwait. Al-Karamah won the game.^{[citation needed]}

On 1 November 2006, the club played Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (South Korea) where Al-Karamah lost the first leg 2–0 in South Korea. In the second leg, the final aggregate score was 2–3, making Jeonbuk the 2006 AFC Champion League Winner.^[5]

However, the club won the league championship in the 2005–06 season, followed by the 2006–07 season, in addition to winning the Republic Cup for the fifth time in their history; hence, collecting the double for the third time.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2008–09 season, Al-Karamah started their season faltering. However, the club managed to tie with Al-Ittihad at top spot, so that a play-off match was resorted to in Al-Assad Stadium in Latakia and Al-Karama won 2–1 to be their 8th title in competition, followed by the title of Cup of the Republic in the same season.^{[citation needed]}

Grounds

Khalid ibn al-Walid Stadium

Khalid ibn al-Walid Stadium is located in the city center of Homs, Syria. In 2004, the stadium was renovated and expanded to its current capacity of 32,000 spectators.^[6] In the same year, the venue was renamed after the sahabi Khalid ibn al-Walid.^{[citation needed]}

Bassel al-Assad Stadium

Bassel al-Assad Stadium is located in the centre of Homs, behind the district Baba Amr. The stadium was renovated during 2016 and a new turf was installed.^[7]

Supporters and rivalries

The Al-Karamah Fans Association was formed in 1975.^{[citation needed]}

Colours and kits

Shirt sponsor & kit manufacturer

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2012–2016	Adidas	MTN Syria
2016–2017	Adidas	Cham Wings Airlines
2017–2021	Nike	None
2022–	Adidas	None

Football achievements

Domestic

Syrian Premier League: 8
- Champions: 1974–75, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1995–96, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
Syrian Cup: 8
- Champions: 1982–83, 1986–87, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
Syrian Super Cup: 2
- Champions: 1985, 2008

Continental

AFC Champions League:
- Runners-up: 2006^[8]
AFC Cup:
- Runners-up: 2009

Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Champions League: 4 appearances

2006: Runners-up

2007: Quarter-finals

2008: Quarter-finals

2010: Qualifying play-off – West semi-finals

Asian Club Championship: 1 appearance

2001: First round

AFC Cup: 3 appearances

2009: Runners-up

2010: Quarter-finals

2011: Group Stage

Al-Karamah in Asia

Accurate as of 1 October 2022

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away
2000–01	Asian Club Championship	1R	Al-Hilal	0–0	1–2
2006	AFC Champions League	Group	Al-Wahda	2–1	2–4
		Group	Saba Battery	1–0	2–1
		Group	Al-Gharafa	3–1	0–4
		QF	Al-Ittihad	4–0 (aet)	0–2
		SF	Al Qadsia	0–0	1–0
		Final	Jeonbuk Motors	2–1	0–2
2007	AFC Champions League	Group	Al Sadd	2–1	1–1
		Group	Neftchi Farg'ona	2–0	1–2
		Group	Najaf	1–1	4–2
		QF	Seongnam Ilhwa	0–2	1–2
2008	AFC Champions League	Group	Al-Wahda	4–1	0–1
		Group	Al-Ahli	0–0	1–1
		Group	Al-Sadd	1–0	2–0
		QF	Gamba Osaka	1–2	0–2
2009	AFC Cup	Group	Mohun Bagan	1–0	4–0
		Group	Al-Kuwait	2–1	1–2
		Group	Al-Wahdat	3–1	1–3
		Round of 16	Busaiteen	2–1 (aet)
		QF	Al-Arabi	0–0	0–0 (5–4 pen.)
		SF	Bình Dương	3–0	1–2
		Final	Al-Kuwait	1–2
2010	AFC Champions League	Play-off SF	Al-Wahda	0–1
2010	AFC Cup	Group	Saham	2–0	4–1
		Group	Shabab Al-Ordon	1–1	2–2
		Group	Al-Ahli	2–0	1–0
		Round of 16	Nasaf Qarshi	1–0
		QF	Muangthong United	1–0	0–2
2011	AFC Cup	Group	Al-Oruba	2–2	1–1
		Group	Arbil	0–3	1–1
		Group	Al-Ahed	3–2	1–4

Performance in UAFA competitions

Arab Club Champions Cup: 1 appearance

2005: 1st Round

Records