The AFC approves Al Hilal Saudi Arabia’s candidacy to represent the Asian continent in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup

The AFC Competitions Committee has approved a set of important decisions, in addition to adopting strategic amendments in club competitions in the Confederation.

In the wake of the Bahraini Football Association’s apology for hosting the 2023 U-17 AFC Asian Cup, the committee decided to approve a proposal to award the honor of hosting the tournament to the Thai Football Association.

Likewise, in light of the failure to complete the 2022 AFC Champions League competitions before the start of the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup, the Competitions Committee decided to nominate Al Hilal Saudi Club, the holder of the Asian Championship title, in order to represent the continent of Asia in the next version of the world championship.

The members of the committee took into account the challenges facing the participation of the national teams hosting the Confederations Championship finals in the qualifiers for these tournaments.

Accordingly, and as part of efforts to reduce the various challenges that may occur, and with the aim of providing the best sports and technical standards for the participating teams, the committee decided that the host country teams will not continue to participate in the qualifiers for the continental championships that are held in the assembly system.

The committee was briefed on the ability of the Club Licensing Department of the Iranian Football Association to identify and address all its deficiencies following the decision of the AFC Club Licensing Working Group, during its meeting on August 24, 2022, to maintain the suspension of the Club Licensing Department in Iranian Football Federation.

Accordingly, the Competitions Committee endorsed the new decision of the Club Licensing Working Group, dated 9 December 2022, to remove the suspension imposed on the Iranian Football Association, and agreed that the AFC would continue to monitor the compliance of the Club Licensing Department of the Iranian Football Association regarding the Football Club Licensing Standards Requirements.

The committee approved the instructions for the AFC Champions League 2023-2024, the AFC Cup 2023-2024, the AFC U-23 Cup 2024, and the amendments to the guide for participating in club competitions in the AFC (version 2021).

It is noteworthy that all decisions need to be approved by the Executive Office of the Asian Football Confederation, before they become effective.