2018 AFC Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates |
Qualifying round: TBA 2017 Competition proper: 16 January – 27 October 2018 |
| Teams |
Competition proper: Maximum of 44 Total: Maximum of 54 (from Maximum of 34 associations) |
The 2018 AFC Cup will be the 15th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Association team allocation
The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014,[1] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014.[2] The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions, with the allocation of slots for the 2017 and 2018 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2016 rankings:[3]
- The associations are split into West Zone and East Zone, with 23 associations in each zone:
- West Zone consists of the associations from West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, except India and Maldives
- East Zone consists of the associations from ASEAN and East Asia, plus India and Maldives
- In each zone, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
- All associations which do not receive direct slots in the AFC Champions League group stage are eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
- The associations ranked 7th to 16th in each zone get at least one direct slot in the group stage (including losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off), while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
- The associations ranked 7th and 8th each gets two direct slots.
- The associations ranked 9th to 12th each gets one direct slot and one play-off slot (in play-off round).
- The associations ranked 13th to 16th each gets one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round).
- The associations ranked 17th or below each gets one play-off slot (in qualifying round).
- If any association gives up its direct slots, they are redistributed to the highest eligible association, with each association limited to a maximum of two direct slots.
- If any association gives up its play-off slots, they are annulled and not redistributed to any other association.
The final association ranking used to determine the slot allocation was published on 27 November 2016, after the completion of the 2016 AFC Champions League and 2016 AFC Cup.[4]
| Participation for 2018 AFC Cup | |
|---|---|
| Participating | |
| Not participating | |
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- Notes
- ^ Kuwait (KUW): The Kuwait Football Association is currently suspended by FIFA (as of November 2016).[5]
Teams
Teams in italics will play in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off, and will play in the AFC Cup group stage if they fail to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage (should they advance to the AFC Champions League group stage, they will be replaced by another team from the same association).
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| Team | Qualifying method | App | Last App |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entering in qualifying round (teams not split into zones for qualifying round) | |||
 Shaheen Asmayee |
2016 Afghan Premier League champions | 1st | none |
 |
2016–17 Yemeni League champions | ||
 |
2016–17 Intercity Football League champions | ||
 Boeung Ket Angkor |
2016 Cambodian League champions | 1st | none |
 |
2016 Bangladesh Football Premier League champions | ||
 Thimphu City |
2016 Bhutan National League champions | 1st | none |
 |
2016 Nepal National League champions | ||
 |
2017 Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol champions | ||
 |
2016–17 Guam Soccer League champions | ||
 MS ABDB |
2016 Brunei Super League champions | 1st | none |
 SLB Laulara |
2016 Liga Futebol Amadora champions | 1st | none |
 |
2016 Sri Lanka Football Premier League champions | ||
 |
2016–17 Pakistan Premier League champions | ||
 Erchim |
2016 Mongolian Premier League champions | 2nd | 2017 |
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).[6] Starting from 2017, matches in the West Zone will be played on Mondays and Tuesdays instead of Tuesdays and Wednesdays.[7]
| Stage | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying stage | Qualifying round | TBA | TBA | |
| Preliminary stage | Preliminary round 1 | No draw | 16 January 2018 | |
| Preliminary round 2 | 23 January 2018 | |||
| Play-off stage | Play-off round | 30 January 2018 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | TBA | 12–14 February 2018 | |
| Matchday 2 | 26–28 February 2018 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 5–7 March 2018 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 12–14 March 2018 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 9–11 April 2018 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 23–25 April 2018 | |||
| Knockout stage | Round of 16 | 14–16 May 2018 | ||
| Quarter-finals | TBA | 20–22 August 2018 | 27–29 August 2018 | |
| Semi-finals | 17–19 September 2018 | 1–3 October 2018 | ||
| Final | 27 October 2018 | |||
See also
References
- ↑ "Revamp of AFC competitions". AFC. 25 January 2014.
- ↑ "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
- ↑ "Entry Manual: AFC Club Competitions 2017-2020" (PDF). AFC.
- 1 2 3 "AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS RANKING (as of 27 November 2016)". AFC.
- ↑ "FIFA Congress drives football forward, first female secretary general appointed". FIFA. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2018" (PDF). AFC.
- ↑ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC. 12 April 2016.
External links
- AFC Cup, the-AFC.com
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