India clubbed in Group E for Asian Football Confederation Championship

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) India have been clubbed in Group E along with Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Syria for next year's qualifiers of the Asian Football Confederation ( AFC) Under-23 Championship 2016.

The draw was held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur today. The boys in blue will start their campaign against Uzbekistan on March 27 next year followed by Syria (March 29) and Bangladesh (March 31).

The preparations for the qualifiers will commence on March 1.

India gave a decent account of themselves last year in its inaugural edition, finishing fourth in a six-team group with seven points from five matches.

India's sojourn included victories against Lebanon (5-2) and Turkmenistan (4-1) with an impressive 1-1 stalemate against United Arab Emirates.

This is the second edition of the tournament, which has been renamed AFC U-23 Championship 2016 from AFC U-22 Championship in the inaugural edition.

Iraq are the defending champions. Ten group winners and five best-second placed teams from all groups, a total 15 teams, will qualify for the final competition where hosts Qatar await.

The qualifiers will be held from March 23 to 31, 2015 while the tournament proper will take place in January 2016.

The AFC U-23 Championship 2016 will serve as the Olympics qualifiers. The top three teams from the 2016 edition will represent Asia at Olympic Games in Brazil.