Bahrain selected Group C hosts for AFC Cup

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain has been selected as the centralised venue for the Group C matches in the preliminary round of the AFC Cup 2022. This was announced yesterday by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Group C features Bahraini club East Riffa, along with Syrian side Tishreen, Nejmeh from Lebanon and Palestine’s Hilal Al Quds. The games are set to be held from May 18 to 24, with the final schedule yet to be released by the AFC. There are two clubs competing in this year’s competition. Bahrain national league champions Riffa are the other.

They are in a tough Group B, which will be held in Kuwait City. The other sides are Shabab Al Khalil of Palestine, Dhofar Club of Oman and Arabi Club of Kuwait. This year’s AFC Cup features nearly 40 teams for the opening stage from the AFC’s West, East, Central, South and ASEAN zones. East Riffa and Riffa are in two of the three groups in the West zone.

Only the winners from the three groups are guaranteed to advance to the Zonal Semi-finals alongside the team with the best runners-up record. Bahrain’s Muharraq are the reigning AFC Cup champions, and with their title gained an automatic berth for the AFC Champions League.

But due to technical reasons, Muharraq will not be competing in either the AFC Champions League or the AFC Cup. Muharraq were crowned winners of last year’s title following a resounding 3-0 victory over FC Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan. Muharraq claimed their second AFC Cup title with the result, adding to their first triumph in 2008. They remain the only Bahraini club to have ever won the AFC Cup competition.