The Asian Football Confederation has announced the composition of the baskets for the 2023/24 AFC Champions League group stage draw in the West and East zones, FFT reports.
The draw for the group stage of the main Asian club tournament will be held on August 24 in Kuala Lumpur and will start at 13:00 Ashgabat time.
According to the results of the draw, ten groups of four teams each will be formed. The group round of the main club tournament in Asia will consist of six rounds and will begin on September 18 and end on December 13. All teams will play three matches at home and away.
The champion of Turkmenistan "Ahal" before the draw of the new season of the AFC Champions League was in the third pot along with the clubs "Al-Faysali" (Jordan), "Istiklol" (Tajikistan), "Mumbai City" (India) and the champion of Iraq, which will be determined later.
This means that the champion of Turkmenistan will definitely not play with these clubs in the group stage of the tournament.
It should be noted that according to the tournament regulations, according to the results of the group stage, the winners of five groups from each zone, as well as three teams that took second places in their quartets with the best results, will advance to the 1/8 finals of the AFC Champions League-2023/24.
Pots for the 2023/24 AFC Champions League group stage draw:
Zone West
Pot 1: Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), Persepolis (Iran), Al-Sadd (Qatar), Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan), Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia).
Pot 2: Sepahan (Iran), Al Duhail (Qatar), Nasaf (Uzbekistan), Al Feiha (Saudi Arabia), Nassaji Mazandaran (Iran).
Pot 3: Al Faisali (Jordan), Istiklol (Tajikistan), Iraqi Champions, Ahal (Turkmenistan), Mumbai City (India).
Pot 4: Al Ain (UAE), winner of Al-Nasr (Saudi Arabia) vs. Shabab Al-Ahly (UAE)/Al-Wehdat (Jordan), winner of Traktor (Iran) ) - Sharjah (UAE) / "Bashundara Kings" (Bangladesh), the winner of the pair "Al-Arabi" (Qatar) - AGMK (Uzbekistan) / "Al-Sib" (Oman), the winner of the pair "Al-Wakra" ( Qatar) - "Navbakhor" (Uzbekistan).