UAE, Palestine added to 2018 Asian Games men's soccer tournament

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine are the two newest countries in the 2018 Asian Games men's soccer tournament, after getting left out the draw earlier this month, raising the number of participating countries from 24 to 26.

The Palestinian Football Association and the UAE Football Association confirmed that they had submitted their entries correctly and according to the rules. The two associations later asked the 2018 Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) to draw the tournament again so that they could be included, but this needed approval from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

UAE and Palestine have been added into the 2018 Asian Games men's soccer tournament. /CGTN Photo‍

"The Asian Football Confederation has called for a re-draw because the UAE and Palestine will participate. We, as the committee, have told the AFC we will not hold a re-draw," said INASGOC chairman Erick Thohir in Jakarta.

The two countries would be included in the tournament, with the UAE in pool 2 and Palestine in pool 4, he added.

On behalf of the INASGOC, Thohir said the addition of the UAE and Palestine would not drastically change the result of the previous draw, which was conducted on July 5, and that it would simply raise the number of participating countries up to 26.

As a player on the Chinese team at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, Zhang Chao, 34, will coach China's 27-person squad at the tournament. The 2018 Asian Games will run from August 18 to September 2 this year in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang.

(Photo credit: Zhang Xuecheng)