This season will be the last in an all-year-round (spring-to-autumn) schedule; from next season onwards the competition will switch to an autumn-to-spring schedule.[1]
The winners of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, entering the qualifying play-offs, if they have not qualified through their domestic performance.[2]
Bahraini club Al-Muharraq are the title holders, having won their second AFC Cup title in 2021. As they failed to obtain the AFC license, they will not defend their title.
Association team allocation
The 47 AFC member associations are ranked based on their clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions (their national team's FIFA World Rankings no longer considered).[3] The slots are allocated by the following criteria according to the Entry Manual:[4]
The associations are split into five zones (Article 5.1):
The AFC may reallocate one or more associations to another zone if necessary for sporting reasons.
Excluding the top five associations in each region for AFC Champions League slot allocation, all other associations are eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
The teams from associations ranked 6th, 11th and 12th which are eliminated in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs enter the AFC Cup group stage (Article 3.2). The following rules are applied:
The associations ranked 6th in both the West Region and the East Region, while allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any direct slot from other associations, are not ranked in each zone for AFC Cup slot allocation (Article 5.3).[5]
If they advance to the AFC Champions League group stage, the AFC Cup group stage slot is filled by the standby team from their association if such team are available (Article 5.12).
The rules above do not apply to the AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders which are allocated AFC Champions League play-off slots should they not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance.
In the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone, there are three groups in the group stage, including 9 direct slots, with the 3 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone are distributed as follows:
The associations ranked 1st to 3rd are each allocated two direct slots.
The associations ranked 4th to 6th are each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 7th or below are each allocated get one play-off slot.
If any zone has an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, which is allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage, there are 10 direct slots, with the 2 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs.
In the South Asia Zone, the Central Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, there is one group in the group stage, including 3 direct slots, with the 1 remaining slot filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.2). The slots in each zone are distributed as follows:[6]
The associations ranked 1st to 3rd are each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 4th or below are each allocated one play-off slot.
If any zone has an association ranked 6th for AFC Champions League slot allocation, which is allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage, there are 4 direct slots, and to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group is added to this zone in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.1).
If any zone has at least 7 play-off slots, to ensure equal opportunity in each zone, another group is added to this zone in the group stage, with the 5 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 5.4.2).
If any association with direct slots do not fulfill any one of the AFC Cup criteria, they have all their direct slots converted into play-off slots. The direct slots given up are redistributed to the highest eligible association by the following criteria (Articles 5.7 and 5.8):
For each association, the maximum number of total slots is two (Articles 3.4 and 3.5).
If any association is allocated one additional direct slot, one play-off slot is annulled and not redistributed.
If any association with only play-off slot(s), including those mentioned above, do not fulfill the minimum AFC Cup criteria, the play-off slot(s) are annulled and not redistributed (Articles 5.10 and 5.11).
For each association, the maximum number of total slots is one-third of the total number of eligible teams (excluding foreign teams) in the top division (Article 5.6). If this rule is applied, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.10).
All participating teams must be granted an AFC Champions League or AFC Cup license, and apart from cup winners, finish in the top half of their top division (Articles 7.1 and 9.5). If any association do not have enough teams which satisfy this criteria, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.9).
If any team granted a license refuses to participate, their slot, either direct or play-off, is annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.11).
Association ranking
For the 2022 AFC Cup, the associations are allocated slots according to their AFC Club Competitions Ranking which was published on 29 November 2019,[7][8] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2016 and 2019.
Participation for 2022 AFC Cup
Participating
Not participating
(N)
Number of teams/associations originally entered, before withdrawal of teams from the competition after the draw
Bangladesh (BAN): Maldives' representative Valencia withdrew from the competition after the Preliminary round 1. As a result, Bangladesh's representative Abahani Limited Dhaka directly advanced to the play-off round.[10]
Macau (MAC): Macau's indirect slot is annulled as Benfica Macau, the Liga de Elite runners-up, refuses to enter the AFC Cup (Entry Manual Article 9.11).
Myanmar (MYA): The teams from Myanmar which originally entered the AFC Cup, Shan United and Hantharwady United, withdrew from the competition after the draw.[11]
Philippines (PHI): Philippines are ranked 6th in the East Region for AFC Champions League allocation, and thus are allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any direct slot from other associations.
Uzbekistan (UZB): Uzbekistan are ranked 6th in the West Region for AFC Champions League allocation, and thus are allocated one direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage without taking away any direct slot from other associations.
Nepal (NEP): Since the 2021–22 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League could not be completed in time, it was agreed that the table toppers after matchday 7 would qualify for the AFC Cup.
Turkmenistan (TKM1): Only Ahal (the Ýokary Liga runners-up) were granted an AFC Champions League license; so Altyn Asyr qualified for 2022 AFC Cup instead.[21][9]
Turkmenistan (TKM2):2021 Turkmenistan Cup winners[22] and 2021 Ýokary Liga 3rd place Şagadam were not granted an AFC Cup license. As a result, Köpetdag, the second best team granted an AFC Cup license and not an AFC Champions League license (2021 Ýokary Liga fourth place), qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup.[21][9]
Vietnam (VIE): Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, the 2021 V.League 1 and 2021 Vietnamese Cup were both abandoned by the Vietnam Football Federation. It was decided that the league's first placed team at the time of abandonment would take the AFC Champions League slot,[23] with the AFC Cup slots to go to the second and third placed teams.[24] Subsequently, third-placed team Than Quang Ninh were omitted from V-League competitions, after loss of their main sponsor and other financial difficulties.[25]Nam Dinh, who were fourth at the time of the suspension, should be given the AFC Cup slot but declined.
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.
As the World Cup takes place between 21 November and 18 December,[26] the tournament will commence in April and conclude in late October 2022.
Stage
Round
Draw dates
Match dates
Preliminary stage
Preliminary round 1
17 January 2022
5 April 2022 (S)
Preliminary round 2
12 April 2022 (S)
Play-off stage
Play-off round
19 April 2022 (S, E)
Group stage
Matchday 1
18 May 2022 (W, S), 24 June 2022 (C, A, E)
Matchday 2
21 May 2022 (W, S), 27 June 2022 (C, A, E)
Matchday 3
24 May 2022 (W, S), 30 June 2022 (C, A, E)
Knockout stage
Zonal semi-finals
9–10 August 2022 (A), 5–6 September 2022 (W)
Zonal finals
14 July 2022
16–17 August 2022 (C) 23–24 August 2022 (A), 4 October 2022 (W)
Inter-zone play-off semi-finals
6–7 September 2022
Inter-zone play-off final
5 October 2022
Final
22 October 2022
Notes
W: West Asia Zone
S: South Asia Zone
C: Central Asia Zone
A: ASEAN Zone
E: East Asia Zone
The original schedule of the competition was as follows.
Original schedule for 2022 AFC Cup
Stage
Round
Draw date
First leg
Second leg
Preliminary stage
Preliminary round 1
No draw
TBA
Preliminary round 2
11–12 January 2022 (W, A); 15–16 February 2022 (S, C, E)
Play-off stage
Play-off round
18–19 January 2022 (W, A); 1–2 March 2022 (S, C, E)
Group stage
Matchday 1
TBA
14–16 February 2022 (W, A); 15–16 March 2022 (S, C, E)
Matchday 2
28 February – 2 March 2022 (W, A); 5–6 April 2022 (S, C, E)
Matchday 3
14–16 March 2022 (W, A); 12–13 April 2022 (S, C, E)
In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.[27]
The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each zone was determined based on each team's association ranking, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match. The three winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 36 direct entrants.
The draw for the group stage was held on 17 January 2022 at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 39 teams were drawn into nine groups of four and one group of three (in the Central Asia Zone): three groups each in the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) and the ASEAN Zone (Groups G–I), two groups in the Central Asia Zone (Groups E–F), and one group each in the South Asia Zone (Group D) and the East Asia Zone (Group J). For each zone, teams were seeded into four pots and drawn into the relevant positions within each group, based on their association ranking and their seeding within their association, in consideration of technical balance between groups. Teams from the same association in zones with more than one group (West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, and ASEAN Zone) could not be drawn into the same group.
In the group stage, each group is played on a single round-robin basis in centralised venues. The following teams will advance to the knockout stage:
The winners of each group and the best runners-up in the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone advance to the Zonal semi-finals.
The winners of each group in the Central Asia Zone advance to the Zonal finals.
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 8.3):[27]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams(Not applicable since matches will be played in centralised venues);
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams playing each other in the last round of the group are tied;
Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
^On 11 April 2022, the AFC announced that Valencia withdrew from the preliminary stage of the qualification, citing financial constraints. Abahani Limited Dhaka advanced to the play-off round.[10][28]
^On 19 January 2022, the AFC announced that the two teams from Myanmar, Shan United and Hanthawaddy United, withdrew from the group stage after the draw.[29] As a result, on 1 March 2022, the AFC decided to cancel the ASEAN zone play-off round match between Visakha FC and Young Elephants, and promote both the participating teams to the group stage to fill the vacant group stage spots.[30]