Hosts Malaysia will have a hard time getting out of their group after being drawn in Group A with 2013 champions Iran, 2006 champions Bahrain, China & Afghanistan in the 2017 AFC Beach Soccer Championships.
Due to the amount of teams being uneven, one out of three groups will have to accommodate five teams instead of four and the draw sees that Malaysia found themselves in the group.
Myanmar initially entered but withdrew before the draw. However, it is not known why they have withdrawn from the competition.
The pots are determined by ranking in the last edition of the Beach Soccer Championships where Oman, Japan & Iran finished in the top three and were in Pot 1 while Malaysia was in Pot 5 marked as ‘unranked’ because they did not enter the 2015 edition.
The AFC Beach Soccer Championships will be held from 4-12 March in Kuala Terengganu.
This will be the first time Malaysia competing in the tournament.
The top three teams of this competition will represent Asia for the 2017 Beach Soccer World Cup in Bahamas from 27 April to 7 May.
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