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Aref Hamed Al Awani, tournament director of the local organizing committee, said that the Cup "will bring together Asia"
Next January, the UAE will receive the AFC Asian Cup – 23 years after the country hosted the 11th edition of the tournament in 1996. And for the first time, the tournament will see the 24 teams from the continent in action.
From 2004 to 2015, there were 16 teams in the running and now eight more were added for the 17th edition. Aref Hamed Al Awani, tournament director of the local organizing committee, said the Cup will "bring Asia together"
"There are six million Asians in the UAE, some teams like India and the Philippines have many fans here. We hope this will give a boost to the tournament, "Al Awani said at a press conference on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.There are six groups of four teams each [19659003OnJanuary10theUnitedArabEmirateswillfaceIndiainaGroupAmatchatZayedSportsCityStadiumOutsidetheUAEandIndiatheotherteamsareThailandandBahrain(GroupA)AustraliaSyriaPalestineandJordan(GroupB)SouthKoreaPRChinaKyrgyzstanandthePhilippines(GroupC)andYemen(GroupD);39:SaudiArabiaQatarLebanonandNorthKorea(GroupE)andJapanUzbekistanOmanandTurkmenistan(GroupF)
"Half of the continent will be here with us . The tournament will bring together Asia All teams are in good shape as we have seen at the FIFA World Cup, their performance has been fantastic and most fans expect these teams to come to the United Arab Emirates. He noted that the tournament will be played in eight venues across three emirates and four cities in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and Sharjah. All stages are in expansion mode and the renovation process is in progress.
Al Awani is confident that the eight sites will be ready in time before the inspection in September or October. The first game and the final will be played at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi
"Most stadiums are in the final stages, Zayed Sports City Stadium has seen great developments in the last three years. is a major event for sporting events in the United Arab Emirates and the region, and many things have been developed at Mohammed Bin Zayed stadium
"There are new lighting and improved security measures . Al Nahyan Stadium is almost ready with more seating. The Al Maktoum stadium in Dubai receives new stands. The number of seats has been increased at Sharjah Stadium. Both sites of Al Ain are also in expansion mode. Most of the seats have been changed in the stadiums, "said Awani.
There will be a total of 51 games and tickets will be available online via www.ticketmaster.ae starting August 1.
Tickets were divided into three categories with live group matches starting at Dh25 and ending at Dh300.
"We kept tickets at affordable prices so everyone could watch the matches. We have also received requests for tickets of several nationalities, "added Awani, the tournament starting Jan. 5, and the local team will play the opening match in Bahrain.
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