Bengaluru FC’s (BFC) AFC Cup play-off match will be held in Maldives in August, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declared in a proclamation on Monday.

BFC, who completed as the runner-up in the AFC Cup in 2016, will take on Maldives’ Club Eagles on August 15 in the play-off match. The winners of the match will join ATK Mohun Bagan, Maziya Sports and Recreation from Maldives and Bangladesh’s Bashundhara Kings in Group D.

The AFC Cup (South) Group D matches will be held across three match days on August 18, 21 and 24. The team that tops the group will progress to the single-leg Inter Zonal Semi Final.

The AFC Cup is Asia’s second-level annual continental club competition (below the AFC Champions League).

Bengaluru FC just made it to the qualification rounds of the 2021 AFC Cup because of the remarkable conditions surrounding their compatriots, ATK Mohun Bagan. ATK had won the option to contest playoffs subsequent to completing second in the ISL 2019-20 league stage, while Mohun Bagan had won direct entry into the group stages by goodness of winning the I-League 2019-20. Nonetheless, the clubs united to shape ATK Mohun Bagan in 2020-21 and the consolidated element was awarded the direct group spot. This implied the team which completed third in the ISL league stages, Bengaluru FC, got the playoff spot.