19th secondary club football tournament organized by the

2022 AFC Cup
Tournament details
Dates Qualifying:
TBA – 17 May
Competition proper:
18 May – 22 October
Teams Competition proper: 32
Total (maximum): 43 (from 26 associations)
2021 2023 →

International football competition

The 2022 AFC Cup will be the 19th version of the AFC Cup, Asia ‘s secondary coil club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation ( AFC ). The winners of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2023 AFC Champions League, entering the qualifying play-offs, if they have not qualified through their domestic performance. [ 1 ] Bahraini club Al-Muharraq are the style holders, having won their second AFC Cup title in 2021. As they failed to obtain the AFC license, they will not be able to defend their style .

Association team allotment [edit ]

The 47 AFC member associations are ranked based on their clubs ‘ operation over the last four years in AFC competitions ( their national team ‘s FIFA World Rankings nobelium long considered ). [ 2 ] The slots are allocated by the follow criteria according to the Entry Manual : [ 3 ]

  • The associations are split into five zones (Article 5.1):
    • West Asia Zone consists of the 12 associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).
    • South Asia Zone consists of the 7 associations from the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
    • Central Asia Zone consists of the 6 associations from Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).
    • ASEAN Zone consists of the 12 associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
    • East Asia Zone consists of the 10 associations from the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
    • The AFC may reallocate one or more associations to another zone if necessary for sporting reasons.
  • Excluding the top five associations in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation, all other associations are eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
  • The teams from associations ranked 6th, 11th and 12th which are eliminated in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs enter the AFC Cup group stage (Article 3.2). The following rules are applied:
    • The associations ranked 6th in both the West Region and the East Region, while allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any direct slot from other associations, are not ranked in each zone for AFC Cup slot allocation (Article 5.3).[4]
    • If they advance to the AFC Champions League group stage, the AFC Cup group stage slot is filled by the standby team from their association if such team are available (Article 5.12).
    • The rules above do not apply to the AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders which are allocated AFC Champions League play-off slots should they not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance.
  • In the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone, there are three groups in the group stage, including 9 direct slots, with the 3 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone are distributed as follows:
    • The associations ranked 1st to 3rd are each allocated two direct slots.
    • The associations ranked 4th to 6th are each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 7th or below are each allocated get one play-off slot.
    • If any zone has an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, which is allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage, there are 10 direct slots, with the 2 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs.
  • In the South Asia Zone, the Central Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, there is one group in the group stage, including 3 direct slots, with the 1 remaining slot filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone are distributed as follows:[5]
    • The associations ranked 1st to 3rd are each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 4th or below are each allocated one play-off slot.
    • If any zone has an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, which is allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage, there are 4 direct slots, and to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group is added to this zone in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.1).
    • If any zone has at least 7 play-off slots, to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group is added to this zone in the group stage, with the 5 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.2).
  • If any association with direct slots do not fulfill any one of the AFC Cup criteria, they have all their direct slots converted into play-off slots. The direct slots given up are redistributed to the highest eligible association by the following criteria (Articles 5.7 and 5.8):
    • For each association, the maximum number of total slots is two (Articles 3.4 and 3.5).
    • If any association is allocated one additional direct slot, one play-off slot is annulled and not redistributed.
  • If any association with only play-off slot(s), including those mentioned above, do not fulfill the minimum AFC Cup criteria, the play-off slot(s) are annulled and not redistributed (Articles 5.10 and 5.11).
  • For each association, the maximum number of total slots is one-third of the total number of eligible teams (excluding foreign teams) in the top division (Article 5.6). If this rule is applied, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.10).
  • All participating teams must be granted an AFC Champions League or AFC Cup license, and apart from cup winners, finish in the top half of their top division (Articles 7.1 and 9.5). If any association do not have enough teams which satisfy this criteria, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.9).
  • If any team granted a license refuses to participate, their slot, either direct or play-off, is annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.11).

Association rank [edit ]

For the 2022 AFC Cup, the associations are allocated slots according to their association ranking which was published on 29 November 2019, [ 6 ] [ 7 ] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the time period between 2016 and 2019 .

Participation for 2022 AFC Cup
Participating
Not participating
Notes
  1. ^AFC Licensing (AFC1): Association did not implement the club licensing system.[8] Association did not implement the golf club license system .
  2. ^AFC Licensing (AFC2): Association did not have a licensed club.[8] Association did not have a accredited club .
  3. ^ Jordan (JOR): Jordan ‘s only team granted a license are playing in the 2022 AFC Champions League .
  4. ^ Philippines (PHI): Philippines are ranked 6th in the East Region for AFC Champions League allotment, and frankincense are allocate one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any send slot from early associations.
  5. ^ Uzbekistan (UZB): Uzbekistan are ranked 6th in the West Region for AFC Champions League allocation, and therefore are allocate one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stagecoach without taking away any send slot from other associations .

Teams [edit ]

Teams in italics will play in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, and will play in the AFC Cup group degree if they fail to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage. Should they advance to the AFC Champions League group stagecoach, they will not play in the AFC Cup, and will be replaced by the understudy team from their association if such team is available. Note: Only teams assured of a place (including standby teams) are displayed.

Notes

agenda [edit ]

The schedule of the contest is as follows. As the World Cup takes plaza between 21 November and 18 December, [ 22 ] the tournament will commence in April and conclude in former October 2022 .

Stage Round Draw date Match date
Preliminary stage Preliminary round 1 TBA TBA
Preliminary round 2 5 April 2022 (W, S), 12 April 2022 (A, E)
Play-off stage Play-off round 19 April 2022 (W, S), 17 May 2022 (C, A, E)
Group stage Matchday 1 17 January 2022 18 May 2022 (W, S), 24 June 2022 (C, A, E)
Matchday 2 21 May 2022 (W, S), 27 June 2022 (C, A, E)
Matchday 3 24 May 2022 (W, S), 30 June 2022 (C, A, E)
Knockout stage Zonal semi-finals 9–10 August 2022 (A), 5–6 September 2022 (W)
Zonal finals TBAp 16–17 August 2022 (S, E if two groups)
23–24 August 2022 (A), 4 October 2022 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals 6–7 September 2022
Inter-zone play-off final 5 October 2022
Final 22 October 2022
Notes
  • A: ASEAN Zone
  • C: Central Asia Zone
  • E: East Asia Zone
  • S: South Asia Zone
  • W: West Asia Zone

The original schedule of the competition was as follows .

original agenda for 2022 AFC Cup
Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary stage Preliminary round 1 No draw TBA
Preliminary round 2 11–12 January 2022 (W, A); 15–16 February 2022 (S, C, E)
Play-off stage Play-off round 18–19 January 2022 (W, A); 1–2 March 2022 (S, C, E)
Group stage Matchday 1 TBA 14–16 February 2022 (W, A); 15–16 March 2022 (S, C, E)
Matchday 2 28 February – 2 March 2022 (W, A); 5–6 April 2022 (S, C, E)
Matchday 3 14–16 March 2022 (W, A); 12–13 April 2022 (S, C, E)
Matchday 4 4–6 April 2022 (W, A); 3–4 May 2022 (S, C, E)
Matchday 5 11–13 April 2022 (W, A); 17–18 May 2022 (S, C, E)
Matchday 6 3–4 May 2022 (W, A); 24–25 May 2022 (S, C, E)
Knockout stage Zonal semi-finals 16–17 May 2022 (W) 23–24 May 2022 (W)
24–25 May 2022 (A)
Zonal finals TBA 6 September 2022 (W)
TBD (S, C, E if two groups) 		13 September 2021 (W)
TBD (S, C, E if two groups)
2–3 August 2022 (A)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals 16–17 August 2022 23–24 August 2022
Inter-zone play-off final 7 September 2022 14 September 2022
Final 15 October 2022

See besides [edit ]

References [edit ]