The Palestine Football Association received a heavy blow from the Asian Football Confederation yesterday with the revelation that Palestine will only receive a playoff spot at the upcoming 2018 AFC Cup.
Palestine’s allocation could have been increased in light of withdrawals of Kuwaiti and Yemeni clubs but the AFC has reallocated the spots to other nations.
Despite a fantastic 2017 for the national team, a change in the formula of the AFC Member Association ranking formula changed to put less emphasis on national team results (they now only account for 10% of the ranking points). As a result, it is unlikely that Palestine’s allocation will change anytime soon.
Palestine’s 2018 participant will be Hilal Al-Quds who were the 2016/17 champion.
The capital city side will face Al-Suwaiq of Oman for the right to progress to the group stage. The playoffs are scheduled for the 23rd/24th and 29th/30th of January.
Palestine will host the first leg of the draw.
