Getting inspected isn't a problem, they could pass everything, but not filling in the paperwork is the problem. Churchill send to AFC, not AIFF submitting their documents.
Chairman of South China Steven Lo confirmed Ken Ng was true. South China will play with Tampines Rovers, Chonburi and Guizhou/Beijing on Feb 2, Feb 8 and Feb 15. ALL ARE AWAY GAMES, WTF!
If that is the case, then the other half must be Pune v Ha Noi, with the winner at Muangthong, then followed by an away game at Melbourne on the same dates. Looks like its seeded and "drawn" according to the final rankings, with the higher ranked at home. There are 8 teams, whats wrong with just 2 knockout rounds?!?!?
We could apply the same to the west... but it gets a bit complicated.... QR1 El Jaish v Al Kuwait* (1) Lokomotiv Tashkent v Al Shorta* (2) Nasaf v Busaiteen (3) Al-Ordon v Al-Suwaiq (4) * Iraq and Kuwait have the same ranking**, so they could switch oppontents ** Well, actually, they dont have a ranking at all, so why they are here is anyones guess QR2 Winner 1 v Winner 4 (A) Winner 2 v Winner 3 (B) QR3 Baniyas v Winner B Lekhiwiya v Winner A Of course if this happens, the two Uzbekistan teams, as well as both Qatar teams will meet at some point...
that is stupid, couse if both of the thai clubs qualified through qualifiers then will probably see a group with two thai sides?
Thailand should be ok.... The groups in the east should look like: JPN, KOR, CHN, AUS JPN, KOR, CHN, THA JPN, KOR, CHN, AUS/THA JPN, KOR, CHN/THA, AUS However in the east, unless QAT and UZB teams meet in the playoffs, there will be a group with probably two UZB teams. The qualifiers are just speculation of course, I still maintain that there will be a draw on December 10. I can not find any information saying that the play-off pairings have been decided, and that a draw will definitely take place.
nice to see 19 countries get the change to participate in the ACL even in the playoff spot. sadly, malaysia and indonesia cannot get the spot.
This really sucks. I was hoping to go and support the club. Now I can only hope we get live TV coverage.
The ACL Qualifying Play-off format is too much deficit for lower rank teams. They have to win all 2-3 away matches to qualify for group stage. In near future, I expect to see some changes of current format to reduce deficit for lower rank team e.g. apply home-away match.
Will be tough for Al Shorta to qualify. They will have to play three different qualifying matches to qualify. Our first qualifier is against Al Qadsia of Kuwait and if we win that we play Lokomotiv Tashkent of Uzbekistan and if we win that we play some other team.
Not sure if this was discussed, but why is Iran all of a sudden the number 1 ranked league in the West and second in Asia? One year AFC decides to take spots away from us and give us ultimatums left and right, the next year our league is second in Asia? Am I missing something here or is AFC being its usual genius self again?
I dont know. But from what I remember, it seems Iran endorsed that Bahraini Khalifa dude to be head of AFC, which was very surprising. Maybe they had a deal under the table or something. lol
2014 playoffs Round 1 Feb 2nd 2014 Al-Suwaiq (Oman) (R1-W1) Al-Hidd (Bahrain) Shabab Al-Ordon (Jordan) (R1-W2) Al-Qadsia (Kuwait) Al-Kuwait (Kuwait) (R1-W3) Al-Shorta (Iraq) East Asia Zone Tampines Rovers (Singapore) (R1-E1) South China (Hong Kong) Pune (India) (R1-E2) Hà Nội T&T (Vietnam) Round 2 Feb 8th 2014 West Asia Zone Baniyas (UAE) (R2-W1)Winner R1-W1 El Jaish (Qatar) (R2-W2) Nasaf Qarshi (Uzbekistan) Lekhwiya (Qatar) (R2-W3)Winner R1-W2 Lokomotiv Tashkent (Uzbekistan) (R2-W4)Winner R1-W3 East Asia Zone Chonburi (Thailand) (R2-E1)Winner R1-E1 Muangthong United (Thailand) (R2-E2)Winner R1-E2 Round 3 Feb 15th 2014 West Asia Zone Winner R2-W1 (W1)Winner R2-W2 Winner R2-W3 (W2) Winner R2-W4 East Asia Zone Beijing Guoan (China) (E1)Winner R2-E1 Melbourne Victory (Australia) (E2)Winner R2-E2 Group Stage The draw for the group stage will be held on 10 December 2013. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn into the same group. Each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the West Esteghlal (Iran) Sepahan (Iran) Tractor Sazi (Iran) Foolad (Iran) Al-Fateh (KSA) Al-Ittihad (KSA) Al-Hilal (KSA) Al-Shabab (KSA) Al-Ain (UAE) Al-Ahli (UAE) Al-Jazira (UAE) Al-Sadd (Qatar) Al-Rayyan (Qatar) Bunyodkor (Uzbekistan) East Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan) Japan's Emperor Cup Winner's Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan) Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) Pohang Steelers (S. Korea) Ulsan Hyundai (S. Korea) Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (S. Korea) FC Seoul (S. Korea) Guangzhou Evergrande (China) Guizhou Renhe (China) Shandong Luneng Taishan (China) Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia) Central Coast Mariners (Australia) Buriram United (Thailand) Al Fateh & Central Coast Mariners will be competing for the 1st time
Central Coast Mariners played in the 2009, 2012 and 2013 editions... Its actually Western Sydney Wanderers making their debut.
We will have 3+1, Esteghlal Khuzestan, Persepolis, Zob Ahan are directly in group stages. Esteghlal Tehran will go through playoffs, could be vs Xavi and Pouraliganji's Al-Sadd Hopefully Pouraliganji's team will lose
http://the-afc.com/competitions-division/afc-competitions-committee-recommends-new-afc-cup-format Member Association rankings for AFC club competitions It was recommended by the Competitions Committee that the AFC will use the club performances for the rankings of the AFC club competitions in the future. At present, the club performances form 70 per cent of the rankings with 30 per cent of the ranking coming from the national team results. With a transition period until 2021 when the rankings will rely 100 per cent on club performances, it is recommended that in 2019 and 2020 the ratio for the rankings will become 10 per cent on national team results and 90 per cent on the club results. The transition period will allow the lower-ranked Member Associations to gain points for qualification for the AFC Cup. The rankings will in future be known as the AFC Club Competition Ranking.
http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/afc/files/afc_club_competitions_ranking_2017.pdf There were some major changes to the AFC club competition criteria in 2017: 1. 70% Club Points + 30% NT Points -> 90% Club Points + 10% NT Points 2. 3 bonus points for EACH advance -> 3 bonus points for advancing from group stage to KNOCKOUT STAGE only 3. Preliminary/Playoff stage not counted -> 0.3 points for entry, 0.3 for a win (except penalty shootout) and 0.15 for a draw A few follow up questions - "In case MA has more than 1 club in the Group Stage, then average points of clubs will be the final points for the respective MA", but they did not mention about the qualification round. If I take Thai League as example in this year, is the total point they can obtain as Sukhothai (0.6) + Bangkok United (0.3) + all points obtained by Muangthong United in the Main Round? Some teams like Johor DT, Global FC were knocked out from the ACL qualification rounds and they can play in the AFC Cup group stage. As their leagues have another representative in AFC Cup, what is the mechanism to calculate on their points?
A MA's total is: preliminary points + [group stage and onward points / group stage participants]. So for Thailand it's 1.05 + Muangthong Utd points. Same for Malaysia, Philippines and any other MA.
Al Ain have been excluded from next year’s Asian Champions League (AFC CL) after failing to comply with club-licencing requirements, it was announced on Monday. Al Dhafra, Al Nasr, Al Wasl, Emirates and Sharjah were all granted a licence by the Pro League Committee’s First Instance Body, while Al Jazira and Al Wahda were only given a provisional licence. The likes of Al Ain, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Bani Yas, Dibba, Ittihad Kalba and Hatta, were all denied a licence. No official reason has been given for the refusal, thought to be linked to finances, but clubs have five working days from the date of the decision to appeal. Al Ain had failed to qualify for next year’s ACL anyway after finishing fourth in last season’s Arabian Gulf League. They were leapfrogged by Al Wahda for the ACL play-off spot after the fifth-placed league finishing side won the President’s Cup. However, when third-placed league finishing Al Ahli — who were 2015 ACL losing finalists — merged with Shabab and Dubai Club over the summer to form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, they were also excluded from ACL qualification for failing to be in existence for the necessary three year requirement, meaning next placed Al Ain took their spot. Unless Al Ain successfully appeal, Al Nasr, who finished sixth last season, and are the next ranked club to have passed club licencing, will take Al Ain’s spot in next year’s ACL. The four clubs representing the UAE in Asia next year will then be last year’s league champions Al Jazira, second-placed Al Wasl, fifth-placed Al Wahda, who will move from a play-off to automatic spot, and sixth-placed Al Nasr, who will now assume the play-off spot.