Iran’s Khatoon heads to Bhutan in pursuit of AWCL spot
A place in the inaugural AFC Women’s Champions League will be on the line when Iranian champion Khatoon Bam gets its campaign underway in the preliminary round of the Asian elite clubs’ competition on Sunday.
Khatoon, which had to recover from the tragic death of star player Melika Mohammadi in a car crash last December to win a record-extending 10th domestic league crown, left for Bhutan on Tuesday ahead of the opener against Group D host Royal Thimphu College in Thimphu’s Changlimithang Stadium.
The bad news for Khatoon head coach Marziyeh Ja’fari is the untimely injury blow for prolific striker Negin Zandi, which could see the 20-year-old prodigy miss the two games in Thimphu.
Ja’fari’s girls will finish their preliminary-round campaign against Hong Kong league champion Kitchee SC on August 31, with the top team of three joining Melbourne City, Filipino club Kaya, and Thailand’s College of Asian Scholars in the main-round Group B – set to be staged in a centralized single round-robin format in Thailand in October.