AFC President's Cup
Organising bodyAFC
Founded2005 (2005)
RegionAsia
Number of teams20 (group stage)
Qualifier forAFC Cup
Current championsTurkmenistan FC HTTU (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Tajikistan Regar TadAZ (3 titles)
2014 AFC President's Cup

The AFC President's Cup was an annual continental club football competition, run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) between 2005 and 2014.

The competition targeted emerging football nations, and was set below the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup competitions.

Competition format

The AFC President's Cup trophy.

Between 8 and 12 teams participated in each edition of the competition. From 2005 to 2007, 8 clubs were placed into two groups of 4 teams. The winners and runners up would advance to the semi-final stage. All the matches were held in a single host country.

From 2008 to 2010, the tournament was increased to 11 clubs. A qualification round was created and the 11 clubs were split into three groups of 3 or 4 clubs. Each group was played in a different country. The three group winners and the best ranked runner up qualified for the finals stage, hosted in another country.

From 2011 to 2014, the tournament was increased to 12 clubs. In the qualification round, there were three groups of 4 clubs. The group winners and runners up qualify for the final stage. These 6 clubs are broken into two groups of 3. The top teams of each group qualified directly for the final.[1]

In November 2013 the AFC announced that the 2014 AFC President's Cup would be the last edition of the tournament.[2] Starting from 2015, league champions of "emerging countries" are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off.[3] The qualifying round for the 2016 AFC Cup, with a similar format to the AFC President's Cup (but without a final stage), was held in August 2015, which qualified two teams to the AFC Cup play-offs.[4]

On 23 December 2022, it was announced that a third-tier club competition for Asian football would be reintroduced from the 2024–25 season, which would be named the AFC Challenge League.[5]

Qualification and participating nations

Qualification to the competition was to clubs from AFC-affiliated countries which fall into the AFC's 'emerging nations' category as laid out in their 'Vision Asia' document. Countries which were 'mature' and 'developing' nations were entered into the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, respectively. For an 'emerging nation' to have a team representing it in the competition, however, the country must have an acceptable football league. The team that represents a country in one season of the competition is the defending champion of the top-level leagues of participating countries.

Clubs from Nepal Nepal, Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Bhutan Bhutan, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, Pakistan Pakistan and Cambodia Cambodia were invited every year.

Clubs from Bangladesh Bangladesh, Turkmenistan Turkmenistan, Mongolia Mongolia, Philippines Philippines and North Korea North Korea were also invited in some of the years of the competition.

Some participating countries – State of Palestine Palestine, Myanmar Myanmar, Tajikistan Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan – applied for an upgrade to the AFC Cup, so their club teams subsequently played in that competition.

Other nations that could enter a team, but never did so are: Brunei Brunei, East Timor Timor-Leste, Guam Guam, Laos Laos, Macau Macau and Afghanistan Afghanistan.

In March 2012 the AFC announced that the Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands were approved to participate in the AFC Challenge Cup and AFC President's Cup if they fulfilled the criteria.[6] However, they never entered a team.

Results

Year Host Final Losing Semifinalists
(No third place match)
Winner Score Runner-up
2005
Details
Nepal
Nepal
Tajikistan
Regar TadAZ
3–0 Kyrgyzstan
Dordoi-Dynamo
Sri Lanka Blue Star SC
Nepal Three Star Club
2006
Details
Malaysia
Malaysia
Kyrgyzstan
Dordoi-Dynamo
2–1
(a.e.t.)
Tajikistan
Vakhsh
Cambodia Khemara
Chinese Taipei Tatung
2007
Details
Pakistan
Pakistan
Kyrgyzstan
Dordoi-Dynamo
2–1 Nepal
Mahendra Police Club
Sri Lanka Ratnam Sports Club
Tajikistan Regar TadAZ
2008
Details
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Regar TadAZ
1–1 (a.e.t.)
4–3 (p)
Kyrgyzstan
Dordoi-Dynamo
Turkmenistan FC Aşgabat
Nepal Mahendra Police Club
2009
Details
Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Regar TadAZ
2–0 Kyrgyzstan
Dordoi-Dynamo
Turkmenistan FC Aşgabat
Pakistan WAPDA
2010
Details
Myanmar
Myanmar
Myanmar
Yadanarbon
1–0
(a.e.t.)
Kyrgyzstan
Dordoi Bishkek
Turkmenistan HTTU Aşgabat
Tajikistan Vakhsh Qurghonteppa
2011
Details
Taiwan
Taiwan
Chinese Taipei
Taiwan Power Company
3–2 Cambodia
Phnom Penh Crown
Turkmenistan Balkan
Kyrgyzstan Neftchi Kochkor-Ata
(Final stage group runners-up)
2012
Details
Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Istiklol
2–1 State of Palestine
Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari
Kyrgyzstan Dordoi Bishkek
Chinese Taipei Taiwan Power Company
(Final stage group runners-up)
2013
Details
Malaysia
Malaysia
Turkmenistan
Nebitçi FT
1–0 Pakistan
KRL
Mongolia Erchim
State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
(Final stage group runners-up)
2014
Details
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Turkmenistan
HTTU Asgabat
2–1 North Korea
Rimyongsu
Nepal Manang Marshyangdi Club
Bangladesh Sheikh Russel
(Final stage group runners-up)

Performance

Performance by nation

# Nation Winners Runners-up
1 Tajikistan41
2 Kyrgyzstan24
3 Turkmenistan20
4 Myanmar10
 Chinese Taipei10
6 Cambodia01
   Nepal01
 Pakistan01
 Palestine01
 North Korea01

Performance by club

Team Winners Runners-Up Years Won Years Lost
Tajikistan Regar TadAZ302005, 2008, 2009
Kyrgyzstan Dordoi Bishkek242006, 20072005, 2008, 2009, 2010
Myanmar Yadanarbon FC102010
Chinese Taipei Taiwan Power Company102011
Tajikistan Istiklol102012
Turkmenistan Nebitçi102013
Turkmenistan Ýedigen102014
Tajikistan Khatlon012006
Nepal Nepal Police Club012007
Cambodia Phnom Penh Crown012011
State of Palestine Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari012012
Pakistan KRL012013
North Korea Rimyongsu012014

By coach

Coach Team Winners
Tajikistan Makhmadjon KhabibulloevTajikistan Regar TadAZ2005, 2008, 2009
Kyrgyzstan Boris PodkorytovKyrgyzstan Dordoi-Dinamo2006, 2007
Myanmar U Zaw Lay AungMyanmar Yadanarbon FC2010
Serbia Nikola KavazovićTajikistan Istiklol2012
Chinese Taipei Chen Kuei-jenChinese Taipei Taiwan Power Company2011
Turkmenistan Rahym KurbanmämmedowTurkmenistan Balkan2013
Turkmenistan Begench GarayevTurkmenistan HTTU Aşgabat2014

Awards

Top scorers

Season Player Goal
2005 Sri Lanka Dudley Steinwall
Cambodia Hok Sochetra
Tajikistan Khurshed Mahmudov
Tajikistan Dzhomikhon Mukhidinov
4
2006 Chinese Taipei Chuang Yao-tsung
Kyrgyzstan Roman Kornilov
5
2007 Sri Lanka Channa Ediri Bandanage 6
2008 Myanmar Thi Ha Kyaw 6
2009 Myanmar Soe Min Oo 6
2010 Tajikistan Rustam Usmonov 5
2011 Chinese Taipei Ho Ming-tsan 6
2012 Kyrgyzstan Mirlan Murzaev 8
2013 Kyrgyzstan Mirlan Murzaev 9
2014 Turkmenistan Suleyman Muhadow 11

Best players

Season Player Team
2005--
2006--
2007Kyrgyzstan Valery KashubaDordoi-Dynamo
2008--
2009Tajikistan Khurshed MahmudovRegar-TadAZ
2010Kyrgyzstan Mirlan MurzaevDordoi-Dynamo
2011Chinese Taipei Chen Po-liangTaipower
2012Tajikistan Alisher TuychievIstiqlol
2013Turkmenistan Amir GurbaniBalkan
2014Turkmenistan Suleyman MuhadowHTTU Asgabat

All-time top goalscorers

Rank Player Club(s) Goals
1 Kyrgyzstan Mirlan Murzaev Dordoi Bishkek 19
2 Kyrgyzstan David Tetteh Dordoi Bishkek 12
3 Tajikistan Khurshed Makhmudov Regar-TadAZ 11
Turkmenistan Suleyman Muhadow HTTU
5 Turkmenistan Amir Gurbani Aşgabat
Balkan
10
Sri Lanka Channa Ediri Bandanage Ratnam
Tajikistan Ibrahim Rabimov Regar-TadAZ
Istiklol
8 Pakistan Kaleemullah Khan KRL 9
9 Turkmenistan Arslanmyrat Amanow Aşgabat
HTTU
8
Myanmar Yan Paing Yadanarbon
Nepal Ju Manu Rai Nepal Police Club

See also

References

  1. "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". Archived from the original on 2018-08-18. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  2. "ACL: East vs West final proposed". The-afc.com. 2013-11-25. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  3. "AFC President's Cup: The end of a glorious journey". AFC. 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  4. "Stage set for 2016 AFC Cup play-off qualifiers". AFC. 29 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  5. "AFC Competitions Committee recommends strategic reforms to elevate Asian club football". theAFC.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  6. "Competitions Committee takes key decisions". The-afc.com. 2012-03-22. Archived from the original on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
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