I think the afc challenge cup draw might be postponed again because there have been protests in kuala lampur, malaysia where the draw is scheduled to be
Its not that bad though to stop a major draw which is not like the UEFA Champions where they have a major draw... this will just be heads of a few feds and a random draw done in some room. Usual.
Nah, I'm currently living just outside KL and there have been no noticeable disruptions. Usually when something major happens there will be roadblocks everywhere, people missing work etc.
So will you be following the AFF Suzuki Championship Cup over there? I am sure AFC officials will be quite happy convening in the country while an important regional football tournament is going on. Games start on Sunday and should preoccupy the thoughts and attention of the football mad Malaysian nation. If there are any disturbances, it will only be because of fans from different nations creating trouble. Since they are used to hosting events like these, I am sure their security officials will have everything in hand.
Thats good because if afc had postponed again then it would have shown that afc really dont care about the challenge cup
Does anybody know how the pots will look now that either phillipines or maldives and cambodia are out?
Oh yes! I didn't get to experience it the last time because I decided to fly home for my semester break. My friends who stayed behind told me all about the hysteria. I have been watching the Malaysian national team's matches and I have to say, I am not overly impressed with what I've seen from them. I think this could well be the year the Philippines takes it.
I have tremendous respect for Winfred Schafer, the coach of the Thailand national team. That plus the fact that Thailand is the host makes them the favorite in my mind. I think the Philippines will have a very good chance and will support them all the way, win, draw or lose, but we are only using our 3rd choice goalkeeper in the group stages because the first 2 was not released by their European clubs. We are also missing our best player from the Bundesliga Stephan Schrock again due to club commitment, but I still think we have enough quality players to do the job and surprise a few teams since in SEA, most reviews outside the Philippines have Thailand and Vietnam as the favorites to make the semis from Group A.
I think the postponement of the draw will also postpone the qualifier for the tournament. Afghanistan is arranging a practice camp for March in Dubai, this obviously means the tournament cannot start on March 2nd as previously stated.
Last time it worked well for the Afghan team. They had a training camp for a good 2 weeks and they made it to the final of the SAFF Cup. During the course they did play a few friendlies with local clubs. I find that its much better for the Afghans to have a long training camp to get the team to gel with each other then playing a one off match against neighboring nations
Thats the SAFF Cup though. For the qualifiers of the AFC Challenge Cup but for the actual tournament it would be better if Afghanistan plays at least 1 friendly before the tournament so you know where you stand before entering it.
Last time qualification started in late March, same will probably happen again, so training camp at beginning isn't so bad. As for friendlies, how can any be arranged before you know who you play in qualification? Pointless arranging games against CAFF nations if yoru qualification group only features EAFF or ASEAN nations? But this is where AFC have to be more professional. The sooner they make a draw, the sooner everyone can prepare. Until Monday at the earliest when all nations meet in Malaysia, then it's all just guess work. And we are talking about emerging nations here, AFC need to give notice ASAP, tey have given notice to their higher nations in the Asian Cup qualifiers, but not to emerging nations who need more help I would have thought?
Yeah the camp helped yhem allot nobody expected them to even make it to the semifinal or beat nepal and dominate india before the tournament.
Pretty disappointing that the AFC website has not indicated anything in regards to the Challenge Cup, nor have they even mentioned the postponement of the draw.
I have long since given up using the AFC website as a source for the latest news. They never update anything about us "lesser nations" until a week after everything has happened.
Football Association of Maldives President Ali Azim said that the Maldives has a good chance to win the bid to host the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. Maldives' bid to host the 2012 edition was dropped in favour of Nepal. "Actually, Nepal was awarded to host in light of the circumstances (in the federation). A lot of AFC executive members said that Maldives will be given precedence next time. So I an confident that Maldives' bid will be successful this time," Azim said in a phone interview from Thailand, where he is lobbying the bid. http://www.haveeru.com.mv/sports/45775
Maldives are confirmed as 2012 hosts. Also announced, the AFC Challenge Cup 2016 and 2018 will no more get direct slots in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup but will have to play the play-offs with the two best remaining teams from the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers who failed to qualify for the Finals. The committee also approved DPR Korea’s exclusion from future AFC Challenge Cups and maintain automatic qualification for top three teams from the 2015 edition in the next edition. http://www.the-afc.com/en/news-cent...40629-maldives-to-host-2014-afc-challenge-cup
That's enough. I'm sick of SAFF nations just making the cut to host these low-tiered AFC competitions. I'm questioning the AFC on how they made bases on choosing Maldives to host over Philippines, but I already had a gut feeling this would happen, based on the article I posted previously. Classic AFC. I now feel the emerging Asean nations would not be given precedence in future tourneys if this persists. On the other hand, taking away direct Asian Cup qualification and requiring the 2016 & 2018 winners of the Challenge Cup to have a playoff with the two best third-placers during the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers, is utterly unjust and treacherous. That's an added burden for those nations who already targeted to qualify for 2019 to have to play a stronger nation who failed to qualify.
The playoff idea. I don't no. It's a lottery, but it's more infavour og giving developed nations another chance. For example, a nation like Saudi Arabia who are currently going through a bad phase could come 3rd in their qualification group and then meet say the Maldives. There is still nothing their to bridge the gap other than two games - but thats what AFC Commitee members are happy to vote for. As for Maldives hosting. Well, AFC need to open their eyes a little. They aren't even classed as an emerging nation but as a developing nation - yet they host this emerging nations tournament!! Why AFC can't take it out of SAFF is a joke really. Who next? Bhutan, Pakistan? In fact, feel sorry for a nation like Pakistan who could host in the future, but they will have to wait for it to do the ASEAN rounds first.
Well as a Maldivian, I'm interested to wait and see how the next 18 months is going to pan out. We have hosted qualifiers on two previous occasions, and co-hosted the 2008 SAFF Championship. All 3 occasions turned out to be a success. But I should also point out that all the matches were held at the capital. According to FAM, the 2014 edition will be played in two host cities; Male', which is the capital, and Addu City, the slightly more detached atoll below the equator. I have no doubts that the matches can be hosted flawlessly in both cities as there are plenty of good accommodation and training pitches on both. Addu City also underwent a massive facelift prior to the SAARC Summit held last year. I do, however, feel bad for the Philippines fans. We were let down earlier this year when AFC awarded the hosting rights to Nepal despite the objections of the inspection team. There should be a proper way to go about these things and nations should be awarded by merit, not out of sympathy. I have no doubt that the Philippines is more than capable of hosting this tournament, and doing so would have given them that extra incentive to go on and qualify for Australia 2015. Having an idea of how AFC works, I have a feeling that they get the chance to host the 2016 tourney.
Congratulations to Maldives for winning the hosting rights of 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. Dont really understand why they have to decide the host now and not wait until the qualifiers are finished in March 2013 ? When will they decide hosts of the qualifiers and draw the groups for the qualifiers ? This week ?
According to short "reports," the draw will happen tomorrow. Problem now is that we don't have any idea how it's gonna happen and how will they be grouped, which I think will still be based on FIFA Rankings and previous performance. I believe Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Mongolia and Macau will have to go through pre-qualifying based on their previous performances and their latest FIFA Ranking. Back-read some of our posts here to know our guesses on how the draw pots might contain tomorrow.