Sports Briefs

FOOTBALL

Asiad football redraw to take place on Wednesday

A redraw for the men’s football tournament at this year’s Asian Games in Indonesia will be held Wednesday, after organizers left out two countries in the first draw earlier this month.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Tuesday that the new draw will take place at 4 p.m. (Korean time) Wednesday at the headquarters of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In the first draw held on July 5, Korea, the defending champions, ended up in Group E with Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and Bahrain. There were six groups of four nations, with the top two nations from those six groups, plus the four best third-seeded teams, set to reach the round of 16.

But the AFC ordered Indonesian organizers to conduct a redraw after learning that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine were not included in the original draw. This will raise the number of participating teams to 26.

According to the KFA, Groups A, C, D and F will have four nations each, and Groups B and E will each have five countries.

The Asian Games run from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2, but group play in football will begin a few days ahead. Teams in Groups B and E will play their first matches on Aug. 10. But if any of the top-five nations from the 2014 Asian Games assigned to Pot 1, including Korea, ends up in Group B or E, that country will open the group stage on Aug. 12.

Among other groups, A, C and D teams will kick off their campaigns on Aug. 14, and Group F teams will start on Aug. 15.

Ki Sung-yueng makes first appearance for Newcastle

Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yueng has made his first appearance for his new Premier League club while wearing his old number.

Newcastle United on Monday (local time) posted pictures of Ki in his familiar No. 4, in training with his new teammates. Ki signed a two-year deal with Newcastle on June 29, after a six-year stint with Swansea City. Ki wore No. 4 with his former club, too.

Ki and Newcastle are preparing for their second preseason match against Hull City on Tuesday. Reports said Ki, who was banged up while representing Korea at the FIFA World Cup last month in Russia, joined training a week earlier than expected.

Newcastle are scheduled to kick off the 2018-2019 season on Aug. 11 at St. James Park against Tottenham Hotspur, which features another Korean star, Son Heung-min.

BASEBALL

KBO to hold draft for overseas-based players

The top Korean baseball league said Tuesday it will start taking applications for an annual draft for overseas-based amateurs and ex-professionals with Korean passports.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the deadline to submit the application is 5 p.m. on Aug. 11. The draft will take place on Sept. 10.

Those who finished high school in Korea and played for foreign professional clubs without having competed in the KBO may enter the draft, as long as their initial pro contract expired before Jan. 31, 2017.

Overseas-based amateurs who have never played as a pro in Korea, and those who graduated from schools outside Korea and played pro ball overseas are also eligible for the draft. In addition, any player who has dropped out of Korean high school or university and is registered with the Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) can enter the draft.

Players who have not been registered with the KBSA at high school or above and have not been eligible for prior KBO drafts, and who have appeared in at least one independent league game can be drafted this time.

For this year’s draft, three former Chicago Cubs prospects - pitcher Rhee Dae-eun, infielder Lee Hak-ju and outfielder-turned-pitcher Ha Jae-hoon - are eligible. Rhee and Ha have also spent time in Japan.

The application form can be downloaded at the KBO’s website, www.koreabaseball.com, and completed forms must be submitted to the KBO’s operations department, with a copy emailed to kbo10@koreabaseball.or.kr.

Yonhap