Kuala Lumpur: The slot allocations for the 2017 AFC Cup Preliminary, Play-off and Group Stages have been finalised. The official draw for the AFC Cup will be held at 1430hrs (local time), December 13, 2016 at the Hilton Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The slots are allocated into any of the three stages according to the Clubs’ Member Associations’ rankings. Clubs winning the AFC Cup Preliminary matches will advance to AFC Cup Play-off Stage, from which in turn, the winners will book a place in the Group Stage. The losers in the Preliminary and Play-off Stages will be eliminated from the competition. The slot allocations are as follows: http://the-afc.com/afc-cup-2017/afc-cup-2017-slot-allocation-and-draw-date-set
My understanding of the format: Preliminaries - 3 rounds to reduce preliminary entrants to 9 (27 automatically qualify for the group stage) Group Stage - 9 groups of 4, grouped by region: West - 3 groups Central - 1 group South - 1 group East - 1 group ASEAN - 3 groups Progression to Knockout stages: West & ASEAN: group winners plus best runner-up - qualify for Zonal Semi Finals Central, South & East: group winners only - qualify for Inter-Zonal Semi Finals Knockout stage All matches, apart from the final, will be played over 2 legs. Zonal West Zonal Semi Finals: 4 teams. Winners qualify for Zonal Final. Winner qualifies for FINAL ASEAN Zonal Semi Finals: 4 teams. Winners qualify for Zonal Final. Winner qualifies for Inter-Zonal Semi Finals Inter-Zonal Inter-Zonal Semi Finals: 4 teams (Central, South, East and ASEAN winners) drawn at random. Winners qualify for Inter-Zonal Final. Winner qualifies for FINAL Final West Winner v Inter-Zonal Winner. Bracket:
I remember that there was a play-off qualifiers for this edition of AFC Cup in August 2016. Some qualified teams like Three Star Club from Nepalese league is not listed in the most updated slot allocation. So, AFC won't count the outcome of this play-off qualifiers anymore? http://www.the-afc.com/afc-cup-2017...lifiers-tertons-fc-three-star-club-go-through
How are they going to have those preliminary matches in ASEAN zone to get from 5 entrants to 3 GS slots? It would make sense to give the Philippines 2 direct GS slots. And are North Korea really sending 2 (two) clubs? I know Rimyongsu where 2 years ago in the APC final, but ...
Philippines : Should Global FC fails to reach the group stage of the AFC Champions League, they will be awarded a slot in the AFC Cup 2017 group stage. If Global FC succeeds, Loyola Meralco Sparks FC, who placed third in the United Football League, will be nominated for the AFC Cup 2017 group stage, joining Ceres-Negros FC. http://pff.org.ph/2016/12/09/philippines-gets-a-slot-in-afc-champions-league-preliminary-stage/
The team from a league with highest MA ranking will qualify to group stage automatically. The remaining 4 teams will compete for the 2 GS slots.
Selangor: The stage is set for the AFC cup 2017 draw which will take place at the Hilton Petaling Jaya in the Malaysian capital at 1430hrs (local time) on Tuesday. The clubs - including reigning champions Air Force Club - who will enter the Group Stage of the competition which will feature a new format, are: West Asia Zone Al Zawraa Club, Air Force Club (Iraq) Al Jaish, Al Wahda (Syria) Al Wehdat or *Al Jazeera, Al Ahli (Jordan) Al Hidd Club, Muharraq Club (Bahrain) Safa SC, Nejmeh SC (Lebanon) Saham (Oman) One West Play-off winner ASEAN Zone Hanoi T&T or *SHB Da Nang, Than Quang Ninh (Vietnam) Johor Darul Ta’zim or *Kedah FA, Felda United (Malaysia) Yadanarbon FC or *Yangon United FC, Magwe FC (Myanmar) Global FC or *Loyola Meralco Sparks FC, Ceres Negros FC (Philippines) Tampines Rovers FC or *Geylang International FC (Singapore) Lanexang United FC (Laos) Two ASEAN Play-off winners South Asia Zone JSW Bengaluru FC or *Kingfisher East Bengal (India) Maziya S&R (Maldives) Albani Dhaka Limited (Bangladesh) One South Play-off winner Central Asia Zone FC Istiklol (Tajikistan) Altyn Asyr FC (Turkmenistan) FC Alay (Kyrgyzstan) One Central Play-off winner East Asia Zone 4.25 SC (DPR Korea) Rovers FC (Guam) Taipower Company (Chinese Taipei) One East Play-off winner *With standby club in case top-ranked club advanced to ACL Group Stage There will be a separate draw for the West Asia and ASEAN zones. The country protection applies only to the West Asia and ASEAN zones, although there will be no draw and country protection for the zones with one group, namely the Central Asia, South Asia and East Asia Zones. In addition, the Double Match Date System (Monday/Tuesday for West Zone and Tuesday/Wednesday for East, Central, South and ASEAN Zones) will be implemented. CLICK HERE FOR THE AFC CUP 2017 DRAW MECHANICS http://www.the-afc.com/afc-cup-2017/stage-set-for-afc-cup-2017-draw
Well this is twisted. So ASEAN has one additional round en route to final. One zone is compromised of teams from leagues that never had team participating in group stage. Qualifying round, that's played in August, is useless now. Good, it was ridiculous scheme. That is practically this:
IMO, it will be clearer for the following format than dividing into 5 zones: ASEAN+EAFF (4 groups) The group winners and runner-ups will qualify to the knockout stage. The winner of knockout stage will qualify to the semi final (inter-zone playoff). SAFF+CAFA (2 groups) The group winners and runner-ups will qualify to the knockout stage. The winner of knockout stage will qualify to the semi final (inter-zone playoff). WAFF (3 groups) Same as current format. The winner will qualify to the final and play against the winner of inter-zone playoff.
Don't like this at all. This means there'll be no country protection during the group stages. For an instance in Group E, there's a strong possibility that there could be either 2 teams from India, or 2 from Maldives.
Here are complete results of today's draw. West Zone Group A 1. Al Zawraa Club (IRQ) 2. Al Ahli (JOR) 3. Al Jaish (SYR) 4. Play-off winner (OMA/PLE) Group B 1. Al Hidd Club (BHR) 2. Air Force Club (IRQ) 3. Safa SC (LIB) 4. Al Wahda (SYR) Group C 1. Al Wehdat or Al Jazeera (JOR) 2. Muharraq Club (BHR) 3. Saham (OMA) 4. Nejmeh SC (LIB) Central Zone Group D 1. FC Istiklol (TJK) 2. Altyn Asyr FC (TKM) 3. FC Alay (KGZ) 4. Play-off winner (TJK/TKM/KGZ/AFG) South Zone Group E 1. JSW Bengaluru FC or Kingfisher East Bengal (IND) 2. Maziya S&R (MDV) 3. Abhani Limited Dhaka (BAN) 4. Play-off winner (IND/MDV/BHU/SRI) ASEAN Zone Group F 1. Johor Darul Ta'zim or Kedah DA FA (MAS) 2. Magwe FC (MYA) 3. Global FC or Loyola merlco Sparks FC (PHL) 4. Play-off winner (LAO/CAM) Group G 1. Hanoi T&T SHB Da Nang (VIE) 2. Felda United FC (MAS) 3. Tampines Rovers FC or Geylang International FC (SIN) 4. Ceres Negros FC (PHL) Group H 1. Yadanarbon FC or Yangon United FC (MYA) 2. Than Quang Ninh (VIE) 3. Lanexang United FC (LAO) 4. Play-off winner (SIN/CAM) East Zone Group I 1. 4.25 SC (PRK) 2. Rovers FC (GUM) 3. Taipower Company (TPE) 4. Play-off winner (PRK/TPE/MNG)
Tertons FC from Bhutan won Group C on the prelim round, but 2nd place Tatung from Taiwan has a spot in the Qualifying Playoffs instead of them. Does anyone know why Tertons was excluded?
Druk Utd. was 2014 Bhutan National League champ and played in 2016 AFC Cup, Tertons FC won 2015 BNL title and played in and finished first in the qualifying round of 2017 AFC Cup, and Thimphu City won 2016 BNL and also are in 2017 AFC Cup qualifying playoff. Seems unfair that Tertons didn't have a chance to advance.
Rovers (Guam) withdrew from the tournament, so Kigwancha (North Korea) will get direct entrance of group stage. Tatung (Taiwan) and Erchim (Mongolia) will complete for the remaining slot of Group I.
Did Tertons FC also withdraw from the tourney? Thanks for the note about Rovers, but Tertons finished top of their group with Tatung and aren't playing in the next round. Also, April 25 from North Korea is already in Group I, so they will have 2 North Korean teams in the same group? It seems odd that they change the team allotments per country after a round has already been played.
Well, they can do whatever they want. This is pathetic. PRK never had a team in the competition, only took part in one edition of President's Cup, and now they have two teams in the competition and both in the same group. There's huge chance they will have quarter-final team.