South Korean side Pohang Steelers will battle a Vietnamese team for a spot at Asia's top club football competition.
Pohang, representing the first-division K League Classic, will take on Hanoi T&T in the final playoff for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. Hanoi T&T defeated Kitchee of Hong Kong 1-0 in the earlier playoff match Tuesday.
The kickoff for the one-and-done match between Pohang and Hanoi will be 2 p.m. next Tuesday at Pohang Steel Yard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. The winner of that showdown will be paired with Guangzhou Evergrande of China, Sydney FC of Australia and Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan.
Should Pohang reach the group stage, their first match will be against Guangzhou on Feb. 24. And following the AFC's sanctions on the Chinese club for violating the tournament regulations, that match will be held behind closed doors.
The AFC announced that Guangzhou were found guilty of breaching rules during the second leg of the 2015 AFC Champions League final they hosted against Al Ahli on Nov. 21 last year.
The Asian football body said the breaches included "filming the opposing club's closed training session, conducting an unauthorized post-match ceremony, infringing upon the commercial rights of AFC sponsors and numerous violations in relation to the organization of the second leg, including significant safety and security failures."
Guangzhou were also fined US$160,000 for their violations.
Three other K League Classic clubs have already qualified for the group stage: the 2015 league champion Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, the league runner-up Suwon Samsung Bluewings and the reigning FA Cup winner FC Seoul.
The group stage will go on from February to May, and the knockout stage will be first played on May 17. The two-leg final is set for November. (Yonhap)