Courtesy: The AFC.com


AFC Futsal Championship draw on March 10

27/2/2012

Kuala Lumpur: The official draw for the 16 teams participating in the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship will take place in the UAE on March 10.

AFC circulated the draw mechanism on Monday to all the participating countries who will lock horns in the continental showpiece to be held in Dubai in May.

After the successful completion of the ASEAN Zone qualifiers in Thailand on Sunday, the 16 countries have now been confirmed for the tournament proper.

The ranking based on the previous championship is: 1. IR Iran 2. Uzbekistan 3. Japan 4. China 5. Australia 6. Kyrgyzstan 7. Lebanon 8. Thailand 9. Indonesia 10. Tajikistan 11. Korea Republic 12. Turkmenistan 13. Chinese Taipei 14. Kuwait 15. Qatar and 16. UAE (unranked hosts).

Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon (all West), Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan (all Central), China PR, Korea Republic and Chinese Taipei (all East); Australia, Indonesia and Thailand (all ASEAN) qualified for the finals following the qualifying tournaments in the respective zones while Iran, Uzbekistan and Japan entered the competition by virtue of finishing as the top three teams in the 2010 edition. UAE, being the hosts, are automatic qualifiers.

According to the draw mechanism, there will be four groups of four teams each who will play a one-round league with the top two teams in the groups qualifying for the quarterfinals.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com