Another draw fiasco hit the 2018 Asian Games with the men's football competition set to undergo a re-draw.
A draw was already held on July 5, which saw Malaysia being drawn in the same group as defending champions South Korea, Kyrgyzstan and Bahrain.
However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine were inexplicably omitted from the draw, forcing the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to void it.
The news gave a headache to Malaysia U-23 head coach Ong Kim Swee, especially with the competition kicking off in less than a month's time.
To further complicate the matter, Malaysia could be drawn into the same group as Saudi Arabia and China, whom they would face in upcoming friendly matches.
"[If there is another draw] I hope the organisers and the AFC will conduct it immediately because time is running out and preparations for us and other teams will be affected by the draw," said Ong when contacted by Astro Arena on Thursday.
"If we get drawn together with Saudi Arabia and China, this will affect our plan."
It was the second time a draw blunder occured for this year's Asian Games after Malaysia were mistakenly included for a sepaktakraw event, which was eventually rectified.
Seng Foo Lee
Fri Jul 20 2018
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