Yemeni League to resume

Khamissi says YFA has paid clubs Sanaa – Moeen Al Najri The Yemeni League 2012-13 season will kick-off on Thursday, after a four-month strike, Yemen Football Association (YFA) media officer Moaz Khamissi has confirmed. The league, which was originally scheduled to start in mid-November 2012, has been hit by financial trouble, with clubs demanding better pay. Khamissi told Arabstoday the league clubs had gone on strike "to force the Ministry of Youth and Culture to increase their fees." Each Yemeni club is paid 3m Yemeni rial per year ($15,000), Khamissi said, and the ministry has referred their request for an increase to the cabinet which is yet to discuss the matter. "The President of the Football Association has duly paid the first instalment of the league payments, even though the Ministry has not been awarded the required appropriations," Khamissi said, explaining that clubs had decided to enter the league on conditions of an increased YFA budget and receipt of first payment.