KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A redraw for the men's football tournament at Asian Games in Indonesia will be held on Wednesday, after organizers left out two countries in the first draw earlier this month.
The new draw will take place on Wednesday afternoon at the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In the first draw held on July 5, there were six groups of four nations, with the top two nations from those six groups, plus the four best third-seeded teams, set to reach the round of 16.
But the AFC ordered Indonesian organizers to conduct a redraw after learning that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine were not included in the original draw.
This will raise the number of participating teams to 26. Groups A, C, D and F will have four nations each, and Groups B and E will each have five countries.
The Asian Games run from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2, but group play in football will begin a few days ahead.
The men's football tournament at the Asian Games is limited to players 23 or younger, though countries are each permitted to name up to three players over that age limit.
