AFC POTY: First shortlist announced

The Asian Football Confederation today announced the first shortlist of contenders for the coveted AFC Player of the Year award for this year. The list will be revised again next month after the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers, Olympic qualifiers, AFC Champions League and AFC Cup matches.

South Korea and Iran have three players each in the list while Asian champions Japan have two. Iraq, UAE, China, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria have a player each in the 15-member list.

The players have been chosen by the AFC for their performances in the AFC Asian Cup, international qualifiers and continental competitions like AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup.

The AFC Player of the Year award will be presented at a grand ceremony on November 23, 2011, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


LIST OF CONTENDERS FOR AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2011
(in alphabetical order; list as of today)

Deng Zhouxiang (China)
Farhad Majidi (Iran)
Firas Al Khatib (Syria)
Ghasem Hadadifar (Iran)
Ha Tae-Goon (South Korea)
Hadi Aghili (Iran)
Hasan Abdel Fattah (Jordan)
Ismail Matar (UAE)
Keisuke Honda (Japan)
Koo Ja-Cheol (South Korea)
Mohammed Noor (Saudi Arabia)
Server Djeparov (Uzbekistan)
Takashi Inui (Japan)
Yeom Ki-Hun (South Korea)
Younus Mahmoud (Iraq)

AFC Champions League: Dempo's tough challenge

I-League champions Dempo Sports Club will be facing Qatar Stars League side Al Sadd in the 2011 AFC Champions League playoff on Saturday, February 19 to qualify for the lucrative continental club tournament. Since the revamp and professionalisation of the Champions League by the AFC no Indian club has been able to qualify for the group stage.

And Dempo's task is quite a difficult one as the Goans will have to travel to Doha to face Al Sadd at their home venue, which only last month played host to India's matches against Australia and Bahrain in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. And hopefully like in those matches the Indian fans will come out to support the I-league champions.

Dempo SC had been given a first round qualifier bye and on Saturday would face Al Sadd, who had beaten Syria's Al Ittihad 5-1 on February 12. Only the winner would make it to the AFC Champions League group stage and the West Zone winners have been drawn in Group B along with Iran's Esteghlal, Al Nassr from Saudi Arabia and Pakhtakor from Uzbekistan; while the losers go to the AFC Cup and would face Al Qadsia (Kuwait), Al Saqr (Yemen) and Shurtan (Uzbekistan) there. Both interesting, but tough groups for Dempo.

Dempo coach Armando Colaco had emphasised over the last few months that his big ambition is to qualify as the first club from India for the Asian Champions League. Two year ago Dempo lost 0-3 against Sharjah FC, but this year they would hope for a better result.

Dempo go into the qualifier on the back of a 2-0 Goan derby win against Churchill Brothers SC in the I-League on Saturday. So hopefully they can carry that momentum into this game against an Al Sadd side which comes into the game on a high.

AFC Champions League: Dempo in Qualifiers

The Asian Football Confederation today conducted the draw for the 2011 AFC Champions League in Kuala Lumpur. And the Indian champions Dempo SC have been drawn in the tougher West Zone qualifiers and would either face a club side from Qatar or Syria in their quest to play with the best in the continent.

Goa's Dempo SC have been given a first round bye and on February 19, 2011 would face the winners of the match between Al Saad from Qatar vs Syria's Al Ittihad, who face each other on February 12. Only the winner would make it to the AFC Champions League group stage. The West Zone winners were drawn in Group B along with Iran's Esteghlal, Al Nassr from Saudi Arabia and Pakhtakor from Uzbekistan.

In the East Zone qualifiers Thailand's Muangthong United will face Sriwijaya from Indonesia and the winner take on Al Ain from United Arab Emirates to decide who qualifies to the East Zone. And the winner would play in Group F along with China's Hangzhou Greentown, FC Seoul from South Korea and Japan's Nagoya Grampus.


AFC Champions League 2011 – Group Stage draw

West Asia

Group A
Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Al Gharafa (Qatar), Al Jazira (United Arab Emirates), Sepahan (Iran)

Group B
Esteghlal (Iran), Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia), Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan), Winner of West Play-off

Group C
Al Wahda (United Arab Emirates), Piroozi (Iran), Al Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), Bunyodkor (Uzbekistan)

Group D
Al Rayyan (Qatar), Emirates (United Arab Emirates), Zob Ahan (Iran), Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia)

East Asia

Group E
Jeju United (South Korea), Melbourne Victory (Australia), Gamba Osaka (Japan), Tianjin Teda (China)

Group F
Hangzhou Greentown (China), FC Seoul (South Korea), Winner of East Play-off, Nagoya Grampus (Japan)

Group G
Cerezo Osaka (Japan), Shandong Luneng (China), Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (South Korea), Arema FC (Indonesia)

Group H
Sydney FC (Australia), Winner of Emperor's Cup or Kashima Antlers (Japan), Shanghai Shenhua (China), Suwon Samsung Bluewings (South Korea)

Is the 3+1 rule helping Asian football?

The Asian Football Confederation is spreading its foreigners rule of 3+1 from the AFC Champions League to the AFC Cup. Under this ruling clubs can play four foreigners in total in continental competitions with one of them having to be Asian. This way the AFC hopes that clubs across the continent will take on more Asian players, give them a chance to shine and allow better quality foreigners to come in.

But the question is if the 3+1 rule helping Asian football?

The AFC surely thinks it is a success so far. AFC Director of Competitions Tokuaki Suzuki said, "After the great success in implementing this system in ACL, it is the right time to introduce this in the AFC Cup matches. The introduction of 3+1 system in ACL gave many Asian players the chance to show their abilities at the continental level, and also gave the clubs the chance to strengthen their squad in the ACL matches."

"Introducing this system encouraged Asian clubs to sign Asian players, which proved to be a successful decision, as we witnessed the success achieved by the players who were signed for the Asian berth."


But the AFC wants this rule not only to be implemented by itself, but also by their member federations as well. The AIFF changed their rules accordingly last season which then became a 3+1+1 rule, meaning three foreigners from anywhere in the world, an Asian player plus a player of Indian origin. So clubs in last years I-League could have played with up to five foreign nationals.

This year the rule has been modified. There is no longer a PIO slot in squads, which means that India now follows the 3+1 rule with one difference, only three out of those four foreigners can play at any given time in the I-League, so some clubs have decided to only sign three foreigners and often the Asian slot is left free.

And the question is also if top class Asians would come to developing leagues like India. Surely not, but still quality players like Japanese Ryuji Sueoka and Australian Tolgay Ozbey have come in, but also some not so good Asians who have since left Indian shores again.

India coach Bob Houghton has been telling the AIFF to reduce the number of foreigners to two, so that young Indian talent gets playing time in the I-League; but the AFC thinks otherwise and more from a continental body perspective as in Asian then local, country football. To judge the rule now would be unfair, so lets wait another two/three years and then a judgement can be made if this rule has helped or harmed Asian football.

AFC announce 2011 participants of ACL, AFC Cup

The Asian Football Confederation today announced the participating teams for the 2011 AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup. The I-League champions Dempo SC will once more get a chance to qualify for the lucrative Champions League and could either face Al Sadd (Qatar), Al Ittihad (Syria), Al Ain (UAE) from the west zone or Sriwijaya (Indonesia) and Muangthong United (Thailand) in the east zone. As there are six teams, one west zone team will be shifted to the east zone playoffs. The four losing sides will play in the AFC Cup.

This years AFC Champions League has 30 teams who received direct entry, while two will make it from the qualifiers. The AFC Cup meanwhile has 28 teams named, while four teams will join the directly named sides as losing four AFC Champions League sides. East Bengal have received a direct entry into the AFC Cup as Federation Cup champions.

For the AFC Cup, four clubs - Arbil of Iraq, Nasaf of Uzbekistan, Persipura Jayapura of Indonesia, and Tampines Rovers of Singapore – have been invited to play in the competition.

The draw for the group stages of both competitions will take place on December 7, 2010, at the PJ Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


AFC Champions League 2011 teams

Nagoya Grumpus, 2nd in league, 3rd in league, Winner of knockout competition (all Japan); FC Seoul, Suwon Bluewings, Jeju United, 3rd in league (all South Korea); Shandong Luneng, Tianjin Teda, Shanghai Shensua, Hangzhou Greentown (all China); Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan, Persepolis Tehran, Zobahan Esfahan, Esteghlal Tehran (all Iran); Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, Al Nassr, Al Shabab (all Saudi Arabia); Al Wahda, Emirates, Al Jazira (all United Arab Emirates); Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory (both Australia); Bunyodkor, Pakhtakor (both Uzbekistan); Arema Indonesia (Indonesia); Al Gharafa, Al Rayyan (both Qatar)


AFC Cup 2011 teams

Al Ahli (Bahrain); Duhok, Al Talaba, Arbil (all Iraq); Al Faisaly, Al Wehdat (both Jordan); Al Qadsia, Kuwait SC, Al Nasr (all Kuwait); Al Ahed, Al Ansar (both Lebanon); Al Suwaiq, Fnjaa or Aloruba (both Oman); Al Jaish, Al Karamah (both Syria); Nasaf Qarshi (Uzbekistan); Al Saqr, Al Tilal (both Yemen); South China, TSW Pegasus (both Hongkong); East Bengal Club (India); Persipura Jayapura (Indonesia); V.B., Victory (both Maldives); Tampines Rovers (Singapore); tbc (Thailand); Hanoi T&T, Song Lam Nghe An (both Vietnam)

Singapore pull out of AFC Champions League

In an interesting but surprising development in Asian football the city-state of Singapore have taken a strategic decision not to play in the 2011/12 AFC Champions League. The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) have pulled out due to the enhanced criteria set for all the member Football Associations from next year onwards. And one of the criteria is that no foreign teams are allowed in the top tier of Asian nations.

Currently there are three foreign teams playing in the S-League. The latest entrant has this season been French outfit Etoile FC plus there are Beijing Guoan Talent (China) and Albirex Niigata Singapore (Japan). And due to these sides Singapore no longer qualifies for the AFC Champions League under the new rules and regulations.

FAS president Zainudin Nordin in a letter to the AFC president Mohamed bin Hamman wrote, "We concluded that due to our current lack of critical mass in key areas such as talent pool and resources, there is still a pressing need for us to continue having foreign teams participating in our league, to help address these gaps in our game and safeguard the sustainability of our league in football excellence, commercial and financial terms."

But Nordin left open when Singapore would next compete in the AFC Champions League. Nordin termed it at an "opportune time under the right circumstances in the near future" Singapore would return to the continents top tier competition.

AFC president bin Hamman reacting to Singapore's decision said, "We have taken on board the situation of the FAS. We hope they will consider seeking direct entry to the ACL soon. It is hard to see Singapore out of AFC's professional football activities in spite of their great potential. We will work hard towards seeing them playing an active role in our professional football programmes in the future."