UAE and Palestine officially added to Asian Games football tournament after accidental omission

Sport360 staff 23:37 25/07/2018
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    After being accidentally omitted from the original draw, the United Arab Emirates and Palestine were officially added to the football tournament at the Asian Games on Wednesday .

    The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) hosted a limited re-draw in Kuala Lumpur to add the two left out sides alongside 24 others which participate in football at the Games next month.

    AFC secretary-general Windsor John explained Games organisers failed to pass the names of UAE and Palestine to his for the initial draw, even though both teams had tried to register.

    John said he was unsure of the reason behind the omission saying – “it could be some computer glitch, it could be some communication breakdown”.

    He emphasized that the AFC was not running the competition, and was conducting the draw on behalf of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Indonesian organising committee.

    Meanwhile, Eris Herryanto, secretary-general of the Indonesian committee, revaled that the two sides had followed the registration process properly.

    “They did something wrong. For example, if they registered one person more than they should have had, that won’t go into the system,” he said.

    Palestine was named in Group A alongside Indonesia, Hong Kong, Laos and Taiwan.

    The UAE was placed in Group E with South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and Bahrain.

    This wasn’t the first obstacle in the road to the Games, which are being held in Palembang and the capital Jakarta from August 18-September 2.

    Earlier in the weekend, angry Indonesian football fans caused damage in the stands  by ripping off plastic seats and hurling them onto a pitch at a stadium in Palembang scheduled to host matches at the Games.

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