The AFC Cup is for clubs from "developing" national associations as
categorised by the AFC's Vision Asia, the blueprint for the development
of football in the continent.
Apart from giving clubs the chance to compete on a continental scale -
and hopefully to improve by doing so - one of the key reasons for the
new competition is to reduce the number of morale-crushing heavy defeats
that have been commonplace in Asian club competition when the
continent's lesser sides have come up against more experienced and
established teams. In short, the AFC Cup should provide a more level
playing field for its participants.
Twenty-eight teams from 14 countries were slated for the competition but
clubs from Jordan, DPR Korea and Myanmar decided not to compete while
Hong Kong and Oman are represented by only one team each.
The 20 competing teams have been split into five groups (three from west
and south and central Asia; two from Asean and east Asia) with the
tournament being played on a home-and-away basis, kicking off on
February 11.
The group games will be played between February 11 and May 19. Eight
teams (5 group winners and 3 group runners-up) will progress to the
quarter-finals.
The knockout rounds of the AFC Cup will take place over two legs on a
home-and-away aggregate score basis. The quarter-final take place on
September 15 (first leg) and 22 (second leg), the semi-finals are on
October 20 and 27, with the final on November 19 and 26.
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