Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Kyrgyzstan will compete at the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 following Nepal’s exclusion from the tournament.
The news comes after the AFC Disciplinary Committee found that Nepal, who played in Group B of the qualifiers, fielded an ineligible player in all three of its group matches.
The ineligibility occurred as a result of a player's MRI test revealing complete fusion of his radial bone. This deemed the player to be ineligible in accordance with Article 21 of the Competition Regulations. The Committee ordered that the All Nepal Football Association pay a fine of US$14,500 and forfeit all of their matches by a 3-0 scoreline.
In total, 16 teams will compete for honours and they include host nation India, the eleven qualifying group winners and the four teams who finished as the best second placed sides during qualification.
AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 – The Finalists
Uzbekistan – Group A winners
Kyrgyzstan – Group B winners
Iraq – Group C winners
Saudi Arabia – Group D winners
Iran – Group E winners
Kuwait – Group F winners**
Malaysia – Group G winners
DPR Korea – Group H winners
Korea Republic – Group I winners
Australia – Group J winners
Japan – Group K winners
Vietnam – 1st best runner-up among all groups
Thailand – 2nd best runner-up among all groups
United Arab Emirates – 3rd best runner-up among all groups
Oman – 4th best runner-up among all groups
India – hosts
** The Kuwait Football Association was suspended by FIFA on October 16, 2015. In this regard, the participation of Kuwait in the Final Competition will be referred to the the AFC Competitions Committee for its decision.
The competition, which will see DPR Korea defending the title they won in 2014, will begin on September 15, 2016 with the final set to be played on October 2, 2016.