12 teams in the AFC Invitational Women’s Champions League… Compete in 3 groups
One-shot tournament from the quarterfinals…
The application of the ‘AFC License’ was pushed after the 2028-2029 season,
as if to share tickets for the finals using the FIFA rankings,
the cycle of the Women’s Asian Cup was also adjusted…
After 2026, not 2030, but 2029
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League,
which will be launched in the 2024-2025 season,
is expected to be held in the form of a ‘four teams in three group stages’. 온라인카지노
The AFC held a women’s football committee meeting in Sydney, Australia on the 20th and decided on the way to run the women’s Champions League,
in which 12 participating teams are divided into three groups to play in the group stage.
It will be finalized only after the approval of the AFC Executive Committee, the upper body.
In this way, the 8 teams that have passed the group stage
will determine the final winner in a single tournament from the quarterfinals to the finals.
The AFC added that the teams that go directly to the final group stage will be determined using each country’s FIFA World Ranking.
If you do not receive a ticket to the finals according to your ranking,
you will have to go through a qualifying tournament.
The preliminary round will be held for one week from August 25 to 31 next year.
After that, the group stage of the finals will be held from October 6 to 12.
The quarterfinals will be held on March 22-23, and the semi-finals and finals will be held on May 21-24, 2025.
In addition, the AFC decided to delay the application of club licenses
that teams participating in the Champions League
must comply with after the 2028-2029 season.
2028-2029 Season
From the 2028-2029 season, clubs that do not meet the license criteria
will be disqualified from participating in the competition.
As the level of development of women’s soccer leagues in each country differs,
the intention is to seek institutional improvement with time to spare.
As a result, the women’s business soccer WK league teams
also had a chance to participate in the invitational competition.
There is currently no team in the WK League that meets the standards required by the AFC,
such as operation of a youth team, mandatory participation in competitions,
operation of the secretariat with ‘sufficient manpower’.
Instead, by the 2028-2029 season,
he was given the task of overhauling the system
inside and outside the club to meet this standard.
Korea Women’s Football Federation
Kim Jeong-sun, secretary general of the Korea Women’s Football Federation, said,
“The reality that each club is facing is not easy,
but we will discuss with the Korea Football Association and find a way
to meet the AFC club license standards.”
As one of these efforts, associations and federations have prepared
the ‘WK League Club License’ and have been implementing it since February this year.
The AFC standard was significantly eased in consideration of the club’s conditions,
such as ‘recommendation’ for the youth team to participate in official competitions,
based on this, the intention is to gradually improve the incomplete parts.
It can be said that it has established its own standards to improve the quality of the league,
but there are limits.
Unlike the AFC, it is unclear whether this license system
will be an incentive for each club that does not have sufficient financial capacity
to supplement the system because it is not enforceable.
In addition, in the case of Sangmu Mungyeong,
which has the uniqueness of being a member of the Armed Forces Athletic Corps
among the 8 teams in the WK League, it seems difficult to reorganize the team according to the AFC’s request in reality.
The AFC said, “All member associations that comply
with the Champions League rules will be able to proceed with the participation process.
The specific criteria will be approved by the Women’s Football Committee through an appropriate process.”
The Women’s Champions League is an expanded version of the AFC Women’s Club Championship,
which has been held since 2019.
Women’s Club Championship
The 2022 AFC Women’s Club Championship was divided into East Asia and West Asia.
In East Asia, Thailand’s Asian Schalas College and in West Asia,
Uzbekistan’s Sogdiana Zizak took the top spot.
In addition, the AFC Women’s Football Committee announced
that it has decided to adjust the schedule for the Women’s Asian Cup in the future.
Accordingly, after the next tournament, the 2026 Asian Cup,
the tournament will be held in 2029 instead of 2030, four years later.
FIFA Women’s World Cup
The intention is to maintain a ‘two-year gap’ with the FIFA Women’s World Cup,
which is held in odd-numbered years.
The Women’s World Cup held this year will be held every four years, such as in 2027 and 2031.
The AFC announced that this is a measure to enhance the status of the competition
held between the national teams of member countries.
He added that the Olympic qualifying method for 2027-2031
would also be adjusted in the direction of simplifying it as much as possible.
Specific policies will be released at a later date.
