Asian Football Confederation

Asian Football Confederation

Abbreviation	AFC
Motto	The Future is Asia
Formation	8 May 1954 (1954-05-08)
Type	Sport organisation
Headquarters	Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Region served	Asia and Australia
Membership	47 member associations
Official language	English and Arabic
President	Salman Al-Khalifa
Vice-president	See list Zhang Jilong · Saud Abdulaziz Al Mohannadi · Praful Patel · Winston Lee Boon Aun · Ali Kafashian
General Secretary	Windsor Paul John (Acting)[1]
Parent organization	FIFA
Website	www.the-afc.com

FIFA confederations
AFC, CAF, CONCACAF
CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football in Asia and Australia. It has 47 member countries, mostly located on the Asian and Australian continent, but excludes the transcontinental countries with territory in both Europe and Asia – Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey – which are instead members of UEFA. Three other states located along the western fringe of Asia – Cyprus, Armenia and Israel – are also UEFA members. On the other hand, Australia, formerly in the OFC, joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, and the Oceanian island of Guam, a territory of the United States, is also a member of AFC, in addition to Northern Mariana Islands, one of the Two Commonwealths of the United States. Hong Kong and Macau, although not independent countries (both are Special administrative regions of China), are also members of the AFC.

One of FIFA's six continental confederations, the AFC was formed officially on 8 May 1954 in Manila, Philippines, on the sidelines of the second Asian Games. The main headquarters is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The current president is Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain.

History

The Asian Football Confederation was founded on 8 May 1954. Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Republic of China (Chinese Taipei), Hong Kong, India, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore and South Vietnam were founding members.^[2][3]

The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (ALFC) is the section of the AFC who manage women's football in Asia. The group was independently founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. In 1986 the ALFC merged with the AFC.^[4] The Asian Ladies Football Confederation helped organise the AFC Women's Asian Cup, first held in 1975, as well as the AFC's AFC U-19 Women's Championship and the AFC U-17 Women's Championship.

Members

The AFC has 47 member associations split into five regions.

• 12 from West Asia
• 6 from Central Asia
• 7 from South Asia
• 10 from East Asia
• 12 from South East Asia

Code	Association	National teams	Founded	FIFA affiliation	AFC affiliation	IOC member
West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)
BHR	Bahrain	(M, W)	1957	1968	1969	Yes
IRQ	Iraq	(M, W)	1948	1950	1970	Yes
JOR	Jordan	(M, W)	1949	1956	1970	Yes
KUW	Kuwait	(M, W)	1952	1964	1964	Yes
LIB	Lebanon	(M, W)	1933	1936	1964	Yes
OMA	Oman	(M, W)	1978	1980	1980	Yes
PLE	Palestine	(M, W)	1928	1995	1995	Yes
QAT	Qatar	(M, W)	1960	1972	1974	Yes
KSA	Saudi Arabia	(M, W)	1956	1956	1972	Yes
SYR	Syria	(M, W)	1936	1937	1970	Yes
UAE	United Arab Emirates	(M, W)	1971	1974	1974	Yes
YEM	Yemen	(M, W)	1962	1980	1980	Yes
Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)
AFG	Afghanistan	(M, W)	1933	1948	1954	Yes
IRN	Iran	(M, W)	1920	1948	1954	Yes
KGZ	Kyrgyzstan	(M, W)	1992	1994	1993	Yes
TJK	Tajikistan	(M, W)	1936	1994	1993	Yes
TKM	Turkmenistan	(M, W)	1992	1994	1993	Yes
UZB	Uzbekistan	(M, W)	1946	1994	1993	Yes
South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)
BAN	Bangladesh	(M, W)	1972	1976	1973	Yes
BHU	Bhutan	(M, W)	1983	2000	1993	Yes
IND	India	(M, W)	1937	1948	1954	Yes
MDV	Maldives	(M, W)	1982	1986	1984	Yes
NEP	Nepal	(M, W)	1951	1972	1954	Yes
PAK	Pakistan	(M, W)	1947	1948	1954	Yes
SRI	Sri Lanka	(M, W)	1939	1952	1954	Yes
East Asian Football Federation (EAFF)
CHN	China	(M, W)	1924	1931	1974	Yes
GUM	Guam2	(M, W)	1975	1996	1991	Yes6
HKG	Hong Kong	(M, W)	1914	1954	1954	Yes
JPN	Japan	(M, W)	1921	1921	1954	Yes
PRK	North Korea	(M, W)	1945	1958	1974	Yes
KOR	South Korea	(M, W)	1928	1948	1954	Yes
MAC	Macau	(M, W)	1939	1978	1978	Yes
MNG	Mongolia	(M, W)	1959	1998	1993	Yes
NMI	Northern Mariana Islands1,2	(M, W)	2005	N/A	2009	No5
TPE	Chinese Taipei3	(M, W)	1936	1954	1954	Yes
ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)
AUS	Australia2,4	(M, W)	1961	1963	2006	Yes6
BRU	Brunei	(M, W)	1959	1972	1969	Yes
CAM	Cambodia	(M, W)	1933	1954	1954	Yes
IDN	Indonesia	(M, W)	1930	1952	1954	Yes
LAO	Laos	(M, W)	1951	1952	1968	Yes
MAS	Malaysia	(M, W)	1933	1954	1954	Yes
MYA	Myanmar	(M, W)	1947	1948	1954	Yes
PHI	Philippines	(M, W)	1907	1930	1954	Yes
SIN	Singapore	(M, W)	1892	1952	1954	Yes
THA	Thailand	(M, W)	1916	1925	1954	Yes
TLS	East Timor	(M, W)	2002	2005	2002	Yes
VIE	Vietnam	(M, W)	1960	1964	1978	Yes

Former members

• Israel Football Association 1954–1974; joined UEFA in 1994 because they were excluded from AFC competitions, as a result of a proposal by Kuwait which was adopted by a vote of 17 to 13 with 6 abstentions.
• New Zealand Football 1964;^[5] founding member of OFC in 1966
• Football Federation of Kazakhstan 1992–2002; joined UEFA in 2002

Competitions

International

The AFC runs the AFC Asian Cup and AFC Women's Asian Cup, which determine the Champions of Asia, as well as the AFC Solidarity Cup. All three competitions are held every four years. The AFC also organises the AFC Futsal Championship, AFC Beach Soccer Championship, various age-level international youth football tournaments and the Asian qualifying tournament for the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup and for football at the Summer Olympics.

In addition to the AFC run international tournaments, each AFC regional federation organises its own tournament for national teams: EAFF East Asian Cup, SAFF Championship, AFF Championship and WAFF Championship.

Club

The top-ranked AFC competition is the AFC Champions League, which started in the 2002–03 season (an amalgamation of the Asian Champions Cup and the Asian Cup Winners Cup) and gathers the top 1–4 teams of each country (the number of teams depend on that country's ranking and can be upgraded or downgraded); this competition only gathered teams from top country.

A second, lower-ranked competition is the AFC Cup. This competition was launched by AFC in 2004. A third competition, the AFC President's Cup, which had started in 2005, was absorbed into the AFC Cup in 2015.^[6]

The AFC also runs an annual Asian futsal club competition, the AFC Futsal Club Championship.

Current title holders

Competitions	Champion	Title	Next edition
Clubs
AFC Champions League	Jeonbuk Motors	2nd	2017
AFC Cup	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1st	2017
AFC Futsal Club Championship	Nagoya Oceans	3rd	2017
Nations Men
AFC Asian Cup	Australia	1st	2019
AFC Solidarity Cup	Nepal	1st	2020
AFC U-23 Championship	Japan	1st	2018
AFC U-20 Futsal Championship			2017
AFC U-19 Championship	Japan	1st	2018
AFC U-16 Championship	Iraq	1st	2018
AFC U-14 Championship	Iraq	1st	TBA
AFC Futsal Championship	Iran	11th	2018
AFC Beach Soccer Championship	Oman	1st	2017
Nations Women
AFC Women's Asian Cup	Japan	1st	2018
AFC U-19 Women's Championship	Japan	4th	2017
AFC U-16 Women's Championship	North Korea	2nd	2017
AFC Women's Futsal Championship	Iran	1st	2017

Defunct competitions

Competitions	Last edition	Last champions	Title
AFC Challenge Cup	2014	Palestine	1st
AFC President's Cup	2014	HTTU Asgabat	1st
Asian Cup Winners' Cup	2001–02	Al-Hilal	2nd
Asian Super Cup	2002	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2nd

Sponsors

The following are the sponsors of AFC (named "AFC Partners"):

• Emirates
• Nike
• Nikon Corporation
• Epson
• Aramex
• Kirin
• Konica Minolta
• Toshiba
• TOTO
• Asahi
• Toyota
• Saison Card
• Samsung
• Makita
• ING
• FamilyMart
• Hyundai

Rankings

Hall of Fame

• Harry Kewell^[11]
• Baichung Bhutia
• Homayoun Behzadi^[12]
• Ali Daei
• Yasuhiko Okudera^[13]
• Hong Myung-bo
• Soh Chin Aun
• Sami Al Jaber
• Sun Wen
• Homare Sawa
• Mokhtar Dahari

World Cup participation

Legend

•  1st  – Champion
•  2nd  – Runner-up
•  3rd  – Third place
•  4th  – Fourth place
• QF – Quarterfinals
• R16 – Round of 16 (since 1986: knockout round of 16)
• GS – Group stage (in the 1950, 1974, 1978, and 1982 tournaments, which had two group stages, this refers to the first group stage)
• 1S – First knockout stage (1934–1938 Single-elimination tournament)
•  •  — Did not qualify
•  ×  — Did not enter / withdrawn / banned / disqualified
•     — Hosts

FIFA World Cup

Team	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2022	Total
South Korea	×	×	×	×	GS	×	•	×	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	GS	4th	GS	R16	GS			9
Japan	×	×	×	×	•	×	•	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	R16	GS	R16	GS			5
Iran	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	•	GS	×	×	•	•	GS	•	GS	•	GS			4
Saudi Arabia	Did not exist					×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	R16	GS	GS	GS	•	•			4
Australia	Part of OFC																		GS	GS			2
North Korea	Did not exist			×	×	×	×	QF	×	•	×	•	•	•	•	×	×	•	GS	•	•		2
Iraq	Did not exist			×	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•			1
United Arab Emirates	Did not exist										×	×	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•			1
China PR	×	×	×	×	×	•	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•			1
Kuwait	Did not exist			×	×	×	×	×	×	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	×		1
Indonesia	×	×	GS	×	×	•	×	×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Israel	Did not exist			•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	not a member of AFC												1
Qatar	Did not exist										×	×	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		q	1
Total	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	2	2	4	4	4	4	4		1	32

FIFA Women's World Cup

Team	1991	1995	1999	2003	2007	2011	2015	Total
Japan	GS	QF	GS	GS	GS	1st	2nd	7
China PR	QF	4th	2nd	QF	QF	•	QF	6
North Korea	•	×	GS	GS	QF	GS	×	4
Australia	Part of OFC				QF	QF	QF	3
South Korea	•	•	•	GS	•	•	R16	2
Chinese Taipei	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Thailand	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	1
Total	3	2	3	4	4	3	5	24

Notes

Other international tournaments

FIFA Confederations Cup

Team	1992	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2009	2013	2017	Total
Japan	•	GS	•	•	2nd	GS	GS	•	GS	•	5
Saudi Arabia	2nd	GS	GS	4th	•	•	•	•	•	•	4
South Korea	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	1
Australia	Part of OFC							•	•	q	1
Iraq	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	1
United Arab Emirates		•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Total	1	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	13

Summer Olympics

Team	1900 to 1928	1936	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	Total
Japan	•	QF			GS		QF	3rd							GS	QF	GS	GS	4th	GS	10
South Korea	•		QF				GS						GS	GS	GS	GS	QF	GS	3rd	QF	10
Iraq	•	not a member of AFC									QF	GS	GS				4th			GS	5
India	•		GS	GS	4th	GS															4
China	•	GS											GS					GS			3
Kuwait	•										QF			GS		GS					3
Iran	•						GS		GS	QF											3
Qatar	•											GS		QF							2
Saudi Arabia	•											GS			GS						2
Chinese Taipei	•		GS			GS															2
Thailand	•				GS			GS													2
Israel	•							QF		QF	not a member of AFC										2
North Korea	•									QF											1
United Arab Emirates	•	not a member of AFC																	GS		1
Australia	Part of OFC																	GS			1
Afghanistan	•		GS																		1
Indonesia	•				QF																1
Malaysia	•								GS												1
Myanmar	•								GS												1
Syria	•										GS										1
Total	0	2	4	1	4	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	57

FIFA U-20 World Cup

Team	1977	1979	1981	1983	1985	1987	1989	1991	1993	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	Total
South Korea	•	GS	GS	4th	•	•	•	QF	GS	•	GS	GS	•	R16	GS	GS	QF	R16	QF	•	q	14
Japan	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	QF	2nd	GS	QF	R16	R16	•	•	•	•	q	9
Saudi Arabia	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	•	GS	•	•	GS	•	GS	•	•	•	R16	•	•	q	8
China PR	•	•	•	GS	QF	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	R16	•	R16	•	•	•	•	•	•	5
Iraq	GS	•	•	•	•	•	QF	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	4th	•	•	4
Syria	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	QF	•	GS	•	•	•	•	R16	•	•	•	•	•	•	4
Uzbekistan	Part of USSR								•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	•	QF	QF	•	4
Qatar	•	•	2nd	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	3
United Arab Emirates	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	•	•	QF	•	•	QF	•	•	•	•	3
North Korea	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	GS	•	GS	•	3
Australia	Part of OFC															•	GS	GS	GS	•	•	3
Iran	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	q	3
Myanmar	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	1
Jordan	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	1
Kazakhstan	Part of USSR								•	•	•	GS	•	not a member of AFC								1
Malaysia	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Bahrain	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Indonesia	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Vietnam	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	q	1
Total	2	3	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	5	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	71

FIFA U-17 World Cup

Team	1985	1987	1989	1991	1993	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	Total
Japan	•	•	•	•	QF	GS	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	GS	QF	R16	•	q	8
Qatar	GS	QF	•	4th	GS	GS	•	QF	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	7
China PR	QF	•	GS	GS	GS	•	•	•	•	GS	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	6
North Korea	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	R16	•	GS	•	R16	q	5
South Korea	•	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	GS	QF	•	•	R16	•	5
Iran	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	R16	•	R16	•	q	4
Saudi Arabia	QF	GS	1st	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	3
United Arab Emirates	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	•	GS	•	•	3
Oman	•	•	•	•	•	4th	QF	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	3
Bahrain	•	•	4th	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	2
Thailand	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	2
Syria	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	•	•	•	GS	•	2
Uzbekistan	Part of USSR				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	R16	•	•	2
Australia	Part of OFC											•	•	R16	•	R16	•	2
Iraq	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	q	2
India	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	q	1
Tajikistan	Part of USSR				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	•	•	•	•	•	1
Yemen	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Total	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	5	4	4	5	4	5	59

FIFA Futsal World Cup

Nation	1989	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	Years
Iran	•	4th	GS	GS	GS	QF	R16	3rd	7
Thailand	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	R16	R16	5
Japan	GS	•	•	•	GS	GS	R16	•	4
China	•	GS	GS	•	•	GS	•	•	3
Australia	Part of OFC					•	GS	GS	2
Uzbekistan	Part of USSR		•	•	•	•	•	GS	1
Vietnam	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	1
Kuwait	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	1
Chinese Taipei	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	1
Kazakhstan	Part of USSR		•	GS	Part of UEFA				1
Malaysia	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	1
Hong Kong	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Saudi Arabia	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Nations	2	3	3	3	4	4	5	5

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Nation	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	Years
Bahrain	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	•	•	GS	•	•	•		2
Iran	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	•	GS	QF	QF		6
Japan	•	•	GS	•	QF	4th	GS	•	•	•	4th	QF	GS	GS	QF	GS	QF	QF		12
Malaysia	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Oman	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	GS		2
Thailand	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	4th	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		2
United Arab Emirates	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	GS	GS	•	GS	•		4
Nations	0	0	1	0	2	1	1	1	0	0	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

AFC Executive Committee

President

• Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa ^[14]

Vice Presidents

• Zhang Jilong – First Vice President^[14]
• Saud Abdulaziz Al Mohannadi – Second Vice President^[14]
• Praful Patel – Third Vice President^[14]
• Winston Lee Boon Aun – Fourth Vice President^[14]
• Ali Kafashian – Fifth Vice President^[14]

FIFA Executive Committee Members

• Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah^[14]
• Abdullah Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah^[14]
• Kozo Tashima^[14]

Members

• Faisal Saleh Hayat^[14]
• Richard Lai^[14]
• Moya Dodd^[14]
• Mahfuza Akhter Kiron^[14]
• Susan Shalabi Molano^[14]
• Han Un Gyong^[14]
• Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi^[14]
• Chung Mong-gyu^[14]
• Ahmed Eid S. Al Harbi^[14]
• Mariano Araneta Jr.^[14]
• Mohamed Shaweed^[14]
• Sardor Rakhmatullaev^[14]
• Hachem Sayed Ali Haïdar^[14]
• Francisco Kalbuady Lay^[14]
• Zohra Mehri^[14]

General Secretary

• Ahmed Saleh Al-Eissi (candidate)

Deputy General Secretary

• Windsor John Paul^[15]

See also

• AFC Annual Awards
• List of Presidents of AFC
• Sport in Asia
• Stadium Attendance of Association Football

References

External links

• Official AFC website (English) (Arabic)