KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 ― The national Under-23 football squad (U-23) faces a more tortuous challenge at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was voted in Group E at the event's redraw at the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), today.
The decision would see Malaysia, which was previously voted with defending champions South Korea, Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan, playing four matches in the group stage before the two top teams advance to the knockout round.
The redraw also saw the hosts, Indonesia, in Group A, to face the latest challenge when Palestine was voted in the group.
The presence of UAE and Palestine, which were inadvertently left out from the preliminary polls in Jakarta on July 5, saw the number of contesting teams rose to 26, witnessing four groups having four teams each while two more groups had five teams each.
The redraw was made following protests from UAE who were reported to be unhappy after their team was left out of the preliminary draw with Palestine due to technical problems.
AFC secretary-general Datuk Windsor Paul John said the redraw, which only involved the two countries, was a decision made by the Asian Olympic Council (OCA) and the Indonesia Asian Games Organisation Committee (INASGOC).
“The find out why limited voting was made and not open one must refer to OCA and INASGOC. We (AFC) only assist in handling technical matters and we are informed by OCA and INASGOC to make a limited redraw involving only the two teams, “he said when met by reporters after the polls here today.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Football Association Secretary-General Ratu Trisha Destria confirmed that the match schedule involving groups with five teams would start on August 10, four days ahead of the schedule set earlier. ― Bernama
