Tehrantimes - Iranian teams Esteghlal Kuzestan, Zob Ahan and Persepoli will learn their opponents for the next edition of the continent’s flagship competition during an official draw in the Malaysian capital on Tuesday.
The stage is set for the AFC cup 2017 draw which will take place at the Hilton Petaling Jaya in the Malaysian capital at 1430hrs (local time) on Tuesday, the-afc.com wrote.
In the draw for next year's East Zone Group Stage, holder Jeonbuk will be joined by:
FC Seoul and Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Korea Republic)
Kashima Antlers + two other clubs to be determined after the Emperor’s Cup (Japan)
Guangzhou Evergrande, Jiangsu FC (China PR)
Adelaide United, Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)
Muangthong United (Thailand)
Eastern SC (Hong Kong)
Four Play-off winners to be determined in due course
In the West Zone, the clubs that will discover their Group Stage opponents are:
Al Ahli, Al Jazira, Al Ain (United Arab Emirates)
Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Taawoun (Saudi Arabia)
Esteghlal Khouzestan, Zob Ahan and Persepolis (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Al Rayyan, Lekhwiya (Qatar)
Lokomotiv (Uzbekistan)
Four Play-off winners to be determined in due course
There will be eight groups in total - Groups A, B, C and D in the West Zone and Groups E, F, G and H in the East, with the country-protection principle to be applied during the draw. In addition, the Double-Match Date System (Monday/Tuesday for the West, Tuesday/Wednesday for the East) will be implemented.
Meanwhile, the clubs set to learn Preliminary/Play-off Stages fate in the Eastern Zone are Jeju United (Korea Republic), a yet to be determined Japanese club, Shanghai SIPG (China), Brisbane Roar (Australia), Sukhotai FC, Bangkok United (Thailand), Kitchee (Hong Kong), Hanoi T&T (Vietnam), Johor Darul Ta’zim (Malaysia), Yadanarbon FC (Myanmar), Global FC (Philippines) and Tampines Rovers (Singapore).
In the West Zone, the clubs who will battle it out for a slot in the Group Stage from the Preliminary/Play-off Stages are Al Wahda (UAE), Al Fateh FC (Saudi Arabia), Esteghlal (IR Iran), El Jaish, Al Sadd (Qatar), Bunyodkor, Nasaf (Uzbekistan), Al Wehdat (Jordan), JSW Bengaluru FC (India) and Al Hidd (Bahrain).