Riffa drawn in Group C for AFC Cup

TDT | Manama       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s Riffa were yesterday drawn in Group C for the West zone in the 2023/2024 edition of the AFC Cup. The tournament’s official draw was held at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur.

Riffa representatives Salman Al Maawda and Ahmed Al Kooheji attended the event, and also participated in the AFC Cup workshop. The AFC Cup is the annual continental club competition of the AFC for top teams not competing in the AFC Champions League.

A total of 36 participating teams were divided into nine groups across the five AFC zones. The West zone teams will start their campaign in Groups A, B and C, with the three group winners and best runners-up advancing to the zonal semi-finals.

Riffa were drawn in Group C along with Al Zawraa of Iraq, Nejmeh SC of Lebanon and Al Arabi of Kuwait. Aside from the West zone, there will also be action in the South, Central, ASEAN and East zones.

The AFC Cup matches kick off next month and the preliminary round continues until December after six match days. The zonal semi-finals are then set for February and the zonal finals for April, while the inter-zone play-off semis are scheduled for March and the inter-zone play-off final for April.

The AFC Cup final will then be played in May. Riffa are the lone Bahraini representatives in this year’s competition. They qualified being the national league champions from the 2021/2022 season.

Current league titlists Al Khalidya were also hoping to take part, but they lost their play-off match earlier this week to Al Nahda of Oman. Muharraq are the only Bahraini club to have ever won the AFC Cup title. They did so twice in 2008 and 2021. They were also runners-up in 2006.