Revised draw for Asian Games men's football tournament

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Kuala Lumpur, July 24: A fresh draw for the men's football tournament at this year's Asian Games will be held on Wednesday after two countries were inadvertently left out of the first one earlier this month, an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) spokeswoman said.

The revised draw will take place at the organisation's headquarters in Kulala Lumpur at 3pm local time (5.30 pm IST).

The United Arab Emirates and Palestine were left out of the first draw on July 5, despite there being no discrepancies in the entries submitted by the two countries.

Their inclusion in Wednesday's draw will raise the number of participating countries to 26. Four groups will have four teams each while two groups will have five teams each.

The participating nations can each field only three players above the age of 23. Group matches in football are scheduled to begin a few days ahead of the official start of the Games, which will run from August 18 to September 2.

India still have no chance of making it as the Indian Olympic Association had decided not to send the team 'since they did not stand a chance to compete for medals'.

Though there was pressure on IOA to reverse the decision, especially after the sports ministry asked it relax selection norms in specific cases "in the larger interest of the sports and sportspersons" after concerns were raised by various athletes and teams that have missed the cut, there has been no change in the decision.

The decision has led to a controversy with All India Football Federation (AIFF) calling IOA's decision "myopic".

The IOA decision also created a flutter in football circles as the men's team has been witnessing a steady rise in the past few years. The national side has jumped from 173 to 97 in the FIFA rankings, qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 to be held in the UAE and has successfully hosted the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

(With agency inputs).