The country remains ostracised from international sport after a new law led to the dissolution of existing bodies including the Kuwait Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Kuwait Football Association (KFA), and their replacement with Government-backed rivals.

They were suspended by FIFA back in 2015, which banned them from participating in any football activities.

Kuwait still managed to finish in third place in their qualification group for the 2018 World Cup despite having to forfeit three matches in Group G - against Myanmar, Laos and South Korea.

It allowed them to progress to the final round of qualifiers, due to take place between March 28 next year and March 27, 2018.

The AFC Competitions Committee have said, however, that "if Kuwait were still suspended on December 18, 2016, they will not be eligible to compete in the Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers Final Round".

The matter is set to be formally ratified at a meeting of the AFC Executive Committee in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

The United Arab Emirates are scheduled to host the 2019 Asian Cup.

"With the draw for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers Final Round scheduled to take place on January 18, 2017, the Competitions Committee recommended that it was important to establish the position of Kuwait at least a month before the draw," an AFC statement read.

It appears unlikely that the sporting issues in Kuwait, which have led both FIFA and the International Olympic Committee to seek damages against authorities in the country, will be resolved by the deadline set by the AFC.

A new sports law granted by the Sports Ministry, with the power to take over all sports bodies and National Federations, as well as being able to control decisions including appointments and financial matters, prompted the sanctions.

Since then, relations have deteriorated, with raids carried-out on the KFA headquarters building when it was still led by Sheikh Talal in August.

The KOC was also dissolved and replaced with a rival body led by Sheikh Fahad Jaber Al-Sabah.

Legal action was threatened by the IOC earlier this month against the organisation for an alleged violation of their branding rules.

The AFC Competitions Committee has recommended to the Executive Committee that China hosts the AFC Under-23 Championship in 2018.

The cities of Kunshan, Changshu, Jiangyin and Changzhou have been identified as potential venues.

The AFC has also urged its members to nominate a neutral venue "at least three months before the match" after several 2018 World Cup qualifying matches had to be played outside of the host nation due to ongoing concerns in a number of countries in the region.

They have asked that all relevant documents be submitted at least two months before the scheduled game.

Syria, ravaged by an ongoing war, were one of the countries affected as they were forced into a late rush to find an alternative venue for their match against South Korea in September.

Macau had originally agreed to step in before they withdrew as talks between the Macau Football Association (MFA) and the Syrian Arab Football Federation (SAFF) broke down.

This left Syria searching for a replacement with less than seven days before the contest was scheduled to be played, raising fears that they would be unable to fulfil the fixture, before Malaysia came to the rescue on the eve of the match.