East Bengal to face clubs from Hong Kong, Cambodia in AFC Women’s Champions League prelims

by

New Delhi: Indian Women’s League champions East Bengal were clubbed with Hong Kong’s Kitchee SC and Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Crown FC in their AFC Champions League preliminary stage group.

At the draw ceremony in the Asian Football Confederation’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, East Bengal were placed in Group E.

The preliminary stage of the tournament will be held in a centralised round-robin format from August 25 to 31 and East Bengal will have to travel to Cambodia for their group engagements.

A total of 19 clubs from across the continent of Asia will take part in the preliminary stage. The teams have been divided into five groups, four of them have four teams each while one group consist of three sides.

The winners of each group will move to the group stage where they meet clubs of top seven AFC member countries in the 2024-25 women’s club competition rankings.

Australia’s Melbourne City, South Korea’s Suwon FC, Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza, title holders Wuhan Jiangda of China, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, Iran’s Bam Khatoon and a yet to be determined team from the United Arab Emairates are the top seven teams that are already assured of a spot in the main stage.

Once the preliminary stage concludes, the AFC will conduct a fresh draw in September to determine the make-up of the main group stage.

East Bengal won the 2024-25 IWL in dominant fashion.

Group E: East Bengal FC (IND), Kitchee SC (HKG), Phnom Penh Crown FC (CAM – Hosts)