Maldives pulls out of AFC U-16; schedule changed

3 Oct 2009 - The Maldives, one of the six nations scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu for the Group B qualifiers of the AFC U-16 Cup, has pulled out of the tournament on Saturday two days before the game kicks off citing technical reason.

ANFA Spokesperson Lalit Krishna Shrestha said they have received a phone call from the Asian Football Confederation regarding the withdrawal. We don’t know more than that, he said.

The withdrawal of Maldives has prompted the ANFA to make slight changes in the event’s schedule. All the games will be played at Dashrath Stadium and only two games will be played in a day now.

Earlier, the football’s body had finalised to organise three games in a day at two different venues -- Dashrath Stadium and the Armed Police Headquarters at Holchwok.

In addition, the whole event will complete within two days before the schedule. The event was previously scheduled to take place from Oct. 5-15.

Among the five teams - Iran, Bahrain, Lebanon, Nepal and Tajikistan - two teams will qualify for the main round consisting of 16 teams. The venue of the main event is yet to be finalised.

Meanwhile, Tajikistan and Lebanon are scheduled to land in Kathmandu on Sunday. Iran and Bahrain are already here.

New Schedule

Teams

Nepal, Iran, Bahrain, Lebanon and Tajikistan

Matches

Oct 5
Bahrian Vs Tajikistan @12:30 NST
Lebanon Vs Nepal @ 15:00 NST

Oct 7
Bahrain Vs Lebanon @ 12:30
Tajikistan Vs Iran @15:00

Oct 9
Tajikistan Vs Lebanon @12:30
Iran Vs Nepal @15:00

Oct 11
Lebanon Vs Iran @12:30
Nepal Vs Bahrain @ 15:00

Oct 13
Iran Vs Bahrain @12:30
Tajikistan Vs Nepal @15:00



source: The Kathmandu Post

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