January 27 – In a major boost for the region, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced plans to expand the Asian Cup, its flagship tournament, from 16 to 24 teams as part of a raft of changes designed to increase the number of international matches for member nations.
“We must market our product and generate income to sustain football across the continent,” said AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa. “I am sure that the changes that happen will have a big impact in Asian football and will benefit our member associations.”
Australia hosts the 16th edition of the quadrennial Asian Cup next year with the first expanded tournament likely to take place in 2019.
Another change sees the AFC Challenge Cup for lower ranked Asian teams, whose winners traditionally gain direct entry to the Asian Cup, being scrapped after this year’s edition in Maldives.
In future, qualification process for the Asian Cup and World Cup will be combined at the preliminary stage, with AFC Member Associations split into eight groups with the group winners and four second best teams going forward to the final qualifying round for World Cup, as well as gaining automatic entry to the Asian Cup. This will increase the number of Asian teams competing in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers from 10 to 12.
Changes are also being implemented for the AFC’s club competitions. Champions League eligibility will now also include national team performances over the previous four years. Thirty percent of the criteria points will be drawn from national team results with the remaining 70% based on clubs’ performances.
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