Kuala Lumpur: AFC has confirmed Asian entries for the qualifying rounds of the 2012 London Olympics football tournaments. Thirty-four teams will fight it out for three spots in the men's competition while 16 teams will be vying to earn two berths in the women's competition. Participating teams in the men's competition are Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, DPR Korea, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen. Jordan are the notable absentees. Men Australia Bahrain Bangladesh China Chinese Taipei Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Japan DPR Korea Korea Republic Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Myanmar Oman Pakistan Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkmenistan UAE Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen http://www.the-afc.com/en/inside-afc/676-afc-news/29224-asian-entries-for-2012-olympics-qualifiers
Great! Afghanistan didn't enter! after having tours to India and achieving a silver medal at the Saf Games with a Olympic side, they don't enter the qualifiers!
There is a big difference though between playing in SAF region and going up against the whole of Asia. Money probably is a problem, but i also guess they would receive help from the AFC aswell.
Kuala Lumpur: FIFA has accepted the entries of Qatar and Jordan into the qualifying rounds of the 2012 London Olympics football tournaments. In letters to both AFC Member Associations, FIFA said it had confirmed the entries of the Qatar and Jordan football associations into the men’s and women’s qualifiers. Qatar had earlier entered in the men’s competition only while Jordan had missed the deadline of submission of entries. Three spots in the men's competition and two berths in the women's competition will be up for grabs by Asian qualifiers in the Olympic tournaments. Detailed information including the competition format on the qualifiers will be provided to all participating Member Associations in due time. http://www.the-afc.com/en/inside-afc/676-afc-news/29249-jordan-included-in-2012-olympics-qualifiers
Thats obvious isn't it? playing South Asian football or against all of Afc? What i am trying to state that the Afghan's had a good build up of games and had improved over time, and this would of been a good experience for them playing against better opposition. Hopefully they still enter the wc qualifiers.
Yes it is obvious, but then there's also the stupidity of playing much better teams than yourselves. Which is what I guess Afghanistan have looked at. SAF region is realistically the goal for Afghanistan, maybe they spent all there money on SAF tournaments.
YES. VERY generous, considering CONMEBOL only gets 2, and UEFA only 3 plus a composite UK Host side. Thank you, FIFA Executive Committee! http://www.the-afc.com/en/news/29286-afc-slots-for-olympics-approved
I'm not sure what Asia did to justify this. We only had 4 last time due to hosting. Seems like UEFA miss out on a dedicated host spot and Asia and Africa share the extra spot created.
What's wrong with Asia being given more spots for a tournament that most European nations don't care much for anyway? Seem's a good tournament to get more teams from Asia in to build for the future. It also helps FIFA by not having as many stronger nations from Europe and South America, so FIFA keep their World Cup ahead of a challenging Olympics run event.
Base3d on past results in Olympic tournaments I would have given the extra spot to Africa. I suppose if they win the play off against us that will be how it works out.
I've always felt Asia is over represented in Olympics and WC's (based on results) but with the Asian TV audience being the biggest football audience in the world by a long way then FIFA justifiably give Asia those "extra" places. Edit: with 2010 WC not having China or a Middle East team could possibly even see TV figures drop.
Europeans tend to be indifferent on the Olympic football tournament. BTW so the format of the qualifying tournament will be fixed as a result of getting the extra spot?
Kuala Lumpur: AFC has announced the format of the 2012 London Olympics preliminary men’s football competition. Thirty-five teams have entered the fray for three-and-a-half slots in the men’s Olympics football tournament. Twenty-two lowest ranked teams will play home-and-away playoff in Round One and the winners will qualify for the second round. First leg of the first round will be played on February 23, 2011, while the return leg will be played on March 9, 2011. The Round One winners will join 13 highest ranked teams in Round Two and 12 teams will make it to the third round after playing home-and-away playoff on June 19, 2011, and June 23, 2011. The teams will be divided into three groups of four teams each in the third round which will have a home-and-away format. The winners of each group will qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. All the second-placed teams will play in a round robin format and the winner will take on CAF’s representative for a place in the Olympics. The third round matches will be played on September 21, 2011, November 23, November 27, February 5, 2012, February 22 and March 14. The round robin matches between the second-placed teams will be played at a centralised venue from March 25 to 29, 2012. MATCH DAYS Round 1 MD1: February 23, 2011 MD2: March 9, 2011 Round 2 MD1: June 19, 2011 MD2: June 23, 2011 Round 3 MD1: September 21, 2011 MD2: November 23, 2011 MD3: November 27, 2011 MD4: February 5, 2012 MD5: February 22, 2012 MD6: March 14, 2012 Playoff MD1-MD3: March 25-29, 2012 http://www.the-afc.com/en/womens-olympic-qualifiers/30069-35-teams-to-vie-for-2012-olympics-slots
A stupid idea to decide the fourth representative. A third placed team can play up to six extra matches just to get a shot at a ticket to London. Players have (much more important) club commitments. There isn't anything in between the Asian Cup and the World Cup qualifiers; why not make two groups of five?
Thank you! I was hoping Guam would enter. I wonder why they didn't. They have been adding some decent players and a few more from the States want to play with them. They might have done well.
Kuala Lumpur: The draw for the Asian qualifiers of the 2012 London Olympics men’s football tournament will be held at AFC House on October 20 at 1100 hours local time. Thirty-five teams have entered the fray to grab the three-and-a-half slots reserved for the continent. The draw results will be announced on the-afc.com Teams in the first round (ranked 14-35) Kuwait, Thailand, Oman, UAE, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Yemen, Hong Kong, Jordan, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Maldives, Palestine, Singapore, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Chinese Taipei, Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka. Teams with a bye into the second round (ranked 1-13) Korea Republic, Australia, China, Japan, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, DPR Korea, Syria, Lebanon, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
2012 Olympics qualifying draw results Kuala Lumpur: The draw for the first round of the 2012 London Olympic men’s football tournament was conducted at AFC House on Wednesday. The 22 lowest ranked teams, based on the qualifiers and final round of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, were drawn to play in a home-and-away format on February 23, 2011, and March 9, 2011, with the winners making it to Round 2. Thirty-five teams have entered the fray to grab the three-and-a-half slots reserved for the continent. The 11 winners from the first round will join the 13 highest ranked teams in the second round where they will again play in a home-and-away format on June 19, 2011, and June 23, 2011. The 12 winners will then be divided into three groups of four teams each in the third round. Again, a home-and-away format from September 21, 2011, to March 14, 2012, will determine the winners who will represent the continent in the Olympics. Three second-placed teams from the third round will play in a playoff at a centralised venue from March 25 to 29, 2012, and the winners of this group will meet the representatives of CAF for a berth in the Olympics. Thailand vs Palestine Jordan vs Chinese Taipei Yemen vs Singapore Kuwait vs Bangladesh Malaysia vs Pakistan UAE vs Sri Lanka India vs Myanmar Oman vs Tajikistan Indonesia vs Turkmenistan Iran vs Kyrgyzstan Hong Kong vs Maldives THE SCHEDULE First leg: February 23, 2011 Second leg: March 9, 2011
Seems to be a good draw for Hong Kong. South China knows Maldives clubs quite well and have won against them over two legs. Only problem is that it is close to AFC Cup time and it might be very tiring for South China's players to fly and play so many games.
Hopefully we qualify. Would love to see us playing football in England. I'll probably buy myself an airplane ticket and head straight to London if that was to happen. As for our qualifiers, I hope we make it through to the Olympic Games, step by step. Inshallah we qualify. Having said that, I'd like to see us lose to Bangladesh away from home lol, just as long as we win the overall aggregate.
Another draw pitting the 11 winners from round one with the rest of the entrants (13?). Knockout basis again to enter group stage 3rd round
Hong Kong U23 coach Tsang Wai-Chung hopes to get 3 warm-up games for the team between the end of the Asian Games till the first qualifier against Maldives. He said foreign teams are hard to find and they might play a Hong Kong league team instead. U23 coaches, put your hands up if you want to play us in a warm-up!