Bam Khatoon to face Al Nassr in AWCL preliminaries
Iranian top-flight champion Bam Khatoon has been drawn alongside Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr Club, Tajikistan's FC CSKA Dushanbe and Jordan's Etihad Club in Group E of the preliminary round of the upcoming AFC Women's Champions League.
The draw for the new season of Asia's premier women's club competition took place at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, with 24 teams divided into six preliminary groups.
All Group E matches will be played in Hisor, Tajikistan.
Khatoon will open its campaign against CSKA on Aug. 17 before facing Al Nassr three days later at Hisor Central Stadium, followed by its final group match against Etihad on Aug. 23.
The six group winners will join the six clubs that qualified directly for the competition: defending champion Naegohyang Women's FC (PRK) and the five highest-ranked teams—Melbourne City FC (AUS), Hwacheon KSPO WFC (KOR), INAC Kobe Leonessa (JPN), Beijing Jingtan Football Club (CHN) and Ho Chi Minh City Women's FC (VIE).
Khatoon, the dominant force in Iran's domestic league with a record 11 titles, is set for a new era following the departure of AFC Women's Coach of the Year Marziyeh Jafari.
Under Jafari, Khatoon reached the quarterfinals of the inaugural edition of the competition in the 2024-25 season before suffering a 1-0 defeat to South Korea's Incheon Red Angels. Last season, however, the Iranian champion fell to an early exit after finishing bottom of Group B with three points.
Elsewhere, Group A, to be hosted by Malaysia's Sabah FA, also features India's East Bengal FC, Guam's Rovers FC and Bangladesh's Rajshahi Stars FC, while Kyrgyz Republic's FC Ilbirs will host Group B, which includes the Philippines' Kaya FC-Iloilo, Hong Kong's TSL FC and Cambodia's Phnom Penh Crown FC.
Group C will see the UAE's Banaat FC, hosts PFC Nasaf of Uzbekistan, Laos' Master FC and Bhutan's Royal Thimphu College FC compete for the lone qualifying berth, while hosts College of Asian Scholars of Thailand, DPR Korea's 4.25 SC, Mongolia's Kharaatsai FC and Timor-Leste's S'Amuser FC make up Group D.
Group F consists of Chinese Taipei's New Taipei City Hang Yuan FC, hosts Ayeyawady FC Women of Myanmar, Singapore's FC Jurong and Lebanon's No Limits FC, with only the group winner advancing.