Remaining 16 distributed in 2 groups of 8, back again to favourite split round robin qualifying 6 teams ( 2 winners of each round robin stage plus 2 better season record on overall round robin) plus 2 teams on repechage (!)
Remaining 16 divided into 2 groups of 8, back to the favorite split round-robin qualifying format (2 winners from each round-robin stage plus 2 teams with better season records based on overall round-robin) and then 2 teams in the repechage.