The 2017–18 Crown Prince Cup was the 43rd and final unfinished season of the Saudi premier knockout tournament for football teams of the Saudi Professional League. It began on 7 September 2017 and would have been concluded with the final in March 2018. However, it was abolished early during the first stage.
Al-Ittihad are the defending champions after a 1–0 win over Al-Nassr in the final.
On 19 September 2017, the General Sports Authority decided to cancel and abolish the tournament and start the new edition next season.
Changes and Format For the first time, the Crown Prince Cup tournament will be contested by the 14 teams of the Pro League, having been decreased from the 30-team format that had been used since the 2013–14 season. Under this new format, the finalists from the previous season will receive a bye to the knockout stage while the remaining 12 enter at the preliminary round. The Crown Prince Cup is played as a knockout cup competition with each tie being played as a single match with the winner advancing to the next round.
On 16 June 2017 it was announced by the SAFF that VAR would be implemented in the tournament.
Participating teams Pro League (14 Teams)
Al-Ahli Al-Batin Al-Ettifaq Al-Faisaly Al-Fateh Al-Fayha Al-Hilal Al-Ittihad (Quarter-finals direct entrants) Al-Nassr (Quarter-finals direct entrants) Al-Qadisiyah Al-Raed Al-Shabab Al-Taawoun Ohod
First stage
Round of 16 The Round of 16 matches are to be played from 7 September to 30 October 2017. All times are local, AST (UTC+3).
Top goalscorers As of 9 September 2017 RankPlayerClubGoals1 AndriaOhod1 Abdelkader OueslatiAl-Fateh ShikabalaAl-Raed Danilo AsprillaAl-Fayha Marcos PizzelliAl-Shabab Note: Players and teams marked in bold are still active in the competition.
References