Katsumi Yusa Churchill Brothers Chennai City I-League 2019-20

AFC and South Asian clubs to discuss AFC Cup fixtures over teleconference

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has set June 5th as the date for a meeting with clubs from the South Asia Zone to discuss the possiblity of conducting the remaining fixtures in the group stage of the 2020 AFC Cup.

Indian representative in the competition Chennai City FC, who qualified as the winners of the 2018-19 I-League, will be attending the teleconference.

The teams in Group E, Bangladesh's Basundhara Kings, Maldives' TC Sports and Maziya S&RC apart from Chennai City played just one game each in the Group Stage before the Coronavirus pandemic brought the footballing world to a standstill.

The Bangladeshi side defeated Maldivian club TC Sports 5-1 at home to go top of the table whereas Chennai played out a 2-2 draw against Maziya at home. The other fixtures were scheduled to be played in April and May but were forced to be postponed until further notice. AFC, along with the clubs involved, are expected to discuss the next steps during the call.

It has to be noted that matches are allowed to be held in India behind closed doors as of now.

Chennai qualified for the AFC Champions League play-offs after winning the league. But a 1-0 defeat to Bahraini side Al-Riffa relegated them to the group stage of the AFC Cup.

Elsewhere, the then Indian Super League (ISL) defending champions Bengaluru FC failed to get past Maziya in the play-off round. The Male-based club was victorious in the penalty shoot-out after the two-legged tie was locked at 4-4 after 210 minutes of football.

Chennai will be hoping to better the performances of Minerva Punjab and Chennaiyin FC from last season. The Indian duo fared poorly in a relatively less challenging group, with both sides facing a premature exit in the group stage of the tournament.

Should Chennai top the group, they will qualify for the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals, a two-legged tie which is the equivalent of the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.

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