AFC Announces Key Competition Decisions

AFC has announced several key decisions made in its Competitions Committee meeting on July 27 which were ratified by the Executive Committee on July 29. In a letter dated August 1, AFC informs member associations the following decisions: Change of Match Date The Committee decided to maintain the match date of 2014 F1FA World Cup Brazil – Asian Qualifiers Round 3. AFC Asian Cup The Committee decided to establish a task force within AFC Administration in order to discuss and recommend a competition format for the AFC Asian Cup 2019. 2014 F1FA World Cup Brazil – Asian Qualifiers Round 4 – Draw The Committee decided to take the latest FIFA/Coca Cola rankings at the time of the Draw for Round 4 as F1FA Ranking has already been implemented for Round 3. Men’s Olympic Football Tournament London 2012 – Asian Qualifiers Round 4 The Committee approved to host Round 4 playoff in a neutral venue as per the below schedule: 25 March 2012: Runners-up Group C vs. Runners-up Group A 27 March 2012: Runners-up Group B vs. Runners-up Group C 29 March 2012: Runners-up Group A vs. Runners-up Group B AFC U-22 Championship The Committee decided the following for the AFC U-22 Championship which is scheduled to be held in 2013 with the qualification to the competition to be held in 2012: - Format: The Committee decided to implement the principle of zoning to conduct the draw for the qualifiers. Sixteen teams shall take part in the final competition with the hosts qualifying automatically for the finals. - Rankings: the Committee decided to apply the rankings of AFC U-19 Championship 2010 to seed the teams for U-22 Championship.