KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday confirmed that the AFC Cup 2021 Playoff and Group Stage (South) matches will be held in the Maldives.
India's Bengaluru FC, the 2016 AFC Cup runners-up, will take on Maldives' Club Eagles on August 15 in the playoff match, with the winners joining India's ATK Mohun Bagan FC, Maziya Sports & Recreation from Maldives, and 2020-21 Bangladesh Federation Cup winners Bashundhara Kings in Group D.
"UPDATE: The Blues' AFC Cup Playoff Clash against Club Eagles FC will take place on August 15th, in the Maldives. The winner of this clash will join ATK Mohun Bagan FC, Maziya S&RC and Bashundhara Kings in Group D," Bengaluru FC tweeted.
The AFC Cup (South) Group D matches will be held across three match days on August 18, 21, and 24, with the eventual group leaders advancing to the single-leg Inter-Zone Semi-final.
Earlier in May, it was confirmed that Bengaluru FC's AFC Cup playoff stage clash against Eagles FC was postponed until further notice.
Bengaluru FC had thrashed Nepal's Tribhuvan Army FC 5-0 in their AFC Cup preliminary round 2 encounter in April. The Blues will lock horns with Eagles as Bangladesh's Abahani Dhaka Limited had pulled out of the tournament.