AFC U19 Championship begins Thursday

Manama : The organising committee of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have started their regular meetings   to put the final touches to the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship, which gets underway in Bahrain on Thursday.

Ali Al Buainain, the deputy chairman of the organising committee, chaired the meeting, deputising for committee chairman and Bahrain Football Association president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

The organising committee and AFC delegation discussed the mechanism of joint action between the two sides before the kick-off.

Elsewhere, 1986 runners-up Bahrain will face two-time champions Saudi Arabia in a tough Group ‘A’ opener in Thursday’s opener.

Meanwhile, teams  continued to touch down on Bahrain with defending champions Qatar and the highly-favourite side UAE being among arrivals.

In other developments, His Majesty’s Personal Representative for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sportschairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa has witnessed the team training and wished them success.

This initiative was lauded by team manager Shaikh Khalid bin Salman Al Khalifa, who noted the impact of this visit on each member of the team.