Maldives to host AFC

The Maldives will host the rest of the Group E (South Zone) matches, confirmed Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Tuesday. The Maldives is one of the three competing nations in the tournament with the other two being India and Bangladesh. The matches will be held at the two venues -- Rasmee-Dhandu National Stadium and Addu Stadium. “Following the receipt of the only one bid (Expression of Interest Form) by the deadline, we are pleased to confirm the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) as the Host of the Competition having fulfilled all the criteria for selection as stated in our letter and Interest Form,” AFC stated while confirming the Maldives as a host on Tuesday. Besides, AFC will provide USD 40,000 to touring clubs as travel contribution and USD 40,000 to all participating clubs as accommodation Contribution. Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) champions Bashundhara Kings have been placed in double-leg Group E along with Indian club Chennai City FC and two Maldivian clubs TC Sports, Maziya Sports & Recreation Club. According to the new centralised format, Kings will resume actions taking on Maziya S&RC on Oct 23. They will play two matches against Chennai City FC on Oct 26 and Oct 29 respectively while the rest of two matches against TC Sports and Maziya S&RC on Nov 1 and Nov 4 respectively. The single-leg Inter-zone semi-finals will be held on Nov 24-25, single-leg Inter-zone final on Dec 2 and single-leg AFC Cup final on Dec 12. Ahead of resuming matches, AFC also invited its Participating Member Associations (PAMs) and Participating Club(s) to bid for hosting the matches within July 17.