Redraw for Asian Games Football Set for Wednesday

Seoul, MINA — A redraw for the men’s football tournament at this year’s Asian Games in Indonesia will be held Wednesday, after organizers left out two countries in the first draw earlier this month.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Tuesday that The new draw will take place at 4 p.m. (Korean time) Wednesday at the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Yonhap reported, quoting, the Korea Football Association (KFA) Tuesday.

In the first draw held on July 5, South Korea, the defending champions, ended up in Group E with Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and Bahrain. There were six groups of four nations, with the top two nations from those six groups, plus the four best third-seeded teams, set to reach the round of 16.

But the AFC ordered Indonesian organizers to conduct a redraw after learning that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine were not included in the original draw.

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This will raise the number of participating teams to 26. According to the KFA, Groups A, C, D and F will have four nations each, and Groups B and E will each have five countries.

The Asian Games run from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2, but group play in football will begin a few days ahead.

Teams in Groups B and E will play their first matches on Aug. 10. But if any of the top-five nations from the 2014 Asian Games assigned to Pot 1, including South Korea, ends up in Group B or E, that country will open group stage on Aug. 12.

Among other groups, A, C and D teams will kick off their campaigns on Aug. 14, and Group F teams will start on Aug. 15.

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The men’s football tournament at the Asian Games is limited to players 23 or younger, though countries are each permitted to name up to three players over that age limit. One of South Korea’s overage players is Son Heung-min, the Tottenham Hotspur star who could miss the first Asian Games match because he’ll appear in the Spurs’ Premier League season opener on Aug. 11. (T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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