Maziya Sports and Recreation Club has departed to Bangladesh, ahead of its match against Abhani Dhaka in the AFC Cup preliminaries.

While the team departed on Sunday morning, a special dinner was held on Saturday night where Sports Minister Ahmed Mahloof was in attendance.

The first leg of the AFC Cup preliminary round between Maziya and Abhani will be held this Wednesday, while the second leg will be held on February 12.

If Maziya wins both matches, the team will head to playoffs. And if it wins this, Maziya will move on to the group stages. It will be in Group E, along with Maldives’ TC Sports Club, India’s Chennaiyin FC and Bangladesh’s Bashundhara Kings.

Maziya Sports and Recreation Club has been preparing for the AFC tournament, with a strong squad. As such, it brought in two international defenders, a former first division player from Serbia and a former national team player from Afghanistan, in addition to the two that were previously in the squad.