AFC Challenge League

Not to be confused with AFC Challenge Cup.
AFC Challenge League
Organising bodyAFC
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005) (as AFC President's Cup)
2024; 0 years ago (2024) (relaunched as AFC Challenge League)
RegionAsia
Number of teams18 (group stage)
Qualifier forAFC Champions League Two
Related competitionsAFC Champions League Elite (1st tier)
AFC Champions League Two (2nd tier)
Current championsTurkmenistan HTTU Aşgabat
(1st title)
Most successful club(s)Tajikistan Regar TadAZ
(3 titles)
Websitewww.the-afc.com
2024–25 AFC Challenge League

The AFC Challenge League (previously known as the AFC President's Cup, abbreviated as ACGL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. The competition is played among clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying slots to the top-tier AFC Champions League Elite or the second-tier AFC Champions League Two, based on the AFC club competitions ranking. The 2024-25 season marked its inaugural edition in the new format. The winner of the AFC Challenge League gets a direct spot in the group stage of the next season's AFC Champions League Two, if they haven't already qualified through domestic performance.

History

[edit]
Season Winners
AFC President's Cup
2005 Tajikistan Regar TadAZ
2006 Kyrgyzstan Dordoi-Dynamo
2007 Kyrgyzstan Dordoi-Dynamo (2)
2008 Tajikistan Regar TadAZ (2)
2009 Tajikistan Regar TadAZ (3)
2010 Myanmar Yadanarbon
2011 Chinese Taipei Taipower
2012 Tajikistan Istiklol
2013 Turkmenistan Balkan
2014 Turkmenistan HTTU Aşgabat
AFC Challenge League
2024–25

The AFC President’s Cup was founded in 2005 as a third tier competition so that clubs from lower-ranked AFC member nations could participate in continental competition.[1]

On 25 November 2013, the AFC Competitions Committee proposed the year of 2014 to be the last edition of the competition.[2] Starting from 2015, league champions of emerging countries were eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off.[3]

The last edition in 2014 saw HTTU Aşgabat defeat Rimyongsu of North Korea 2–1, and became the second consecutive team from Turkmenistan to win the competition.

On 23 December 2022 it was announced that the AFC competition structure would change from the established formats from the 2024–25 season. A new third-tier tournament called the AFC Challenge League would be introduced.[4][5][6]

On 24 May 2024 AFC announced that the records and statistics will be recognised and integrated within the revamped club competitions, with the data from the AFC President's Cup transferring to the AFC Challenge League.[7]

Format

[edit]
The AFC President's Cup trophy

Qualification to the competition initially was for clubs from AFC-affiliated countries which fall into the AFC's emerging nations category as laid out in their Vision Asia document.

Between 8 and 12 clubs participated in each edition of the competition. From 2005 to 2007, 8 clubs were placed in the two groups of 4. 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 clubs were split into three groups. Each group was played in a different country. The three group winners and the best ranked runner up qualified for the final stage.

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 qualified for the final stage. These 6 clubs were broken into two groups of 3. The top clubs of each group qualified for the final.[8]

In November 2013 the AFC announced that the 2014 AFC President's Cup would be the last edition of the tournament.[9] Starting from 2015, league champions of "emerging countries" are eligible to participate in the AFC Cup qualifying play-off.[10] The qualifying round for the 2016 AFC Cup, with similar format to the AFC President's Cup (without final stage), was held in August 2015, which qualified two clubs to the AFC Cup play-offs.[11]

After the rebrand in 2024, the new format comprised 18 participating clubs divided into four groups for the inaugural season. The clubs compete in single-leg centralized format, with the top eight qualifying for the quarter-finals. The quarter and semi-finals are played over two legs, before the coveted final is staged over a single-leg contest.[12][13]

Prize money

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Starting with the 2024–25 season, the distribution of the prize money is as follows:[14]

Round Teams Amount
Per team Total
Final (Champions) 1 $1m $1,000,000
Final (Runners-up) 1 $500k $500,000
Semi-finals 4 $120k $480,000
Quarter-finals 8 $80k $640,000
Group stage 18 $100k $1,800,000
Total 18 $4,420,000

Records and statistics

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Main article: AFC President's Cup and AFC Challenge League records and statistics

List of finals

[edit]
Key
† Match won after extra time
* Match won after a penalty shoot-out
  • The "Season" column refers to the season during which the competition was held, and links to the article about that season.
List of AFC President's Cup and AFC Challenge League finals[15]
Season Country Winners Score Runners-up Country Venue Attendance Ref.
AFC President's Cup (2005–2014)
2005  Tajikistan Regar-TadAZ 3–0 Dordoi-Dynamo  Kyrgyzstan Dashrath Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal 8,000 [16]
2006  Kyrgyzstan Dordoi-Dynamo 2–1† Vakhsh  Tajikistan Sarawak Stadium, Kuching, Malaysia 500 [17]
2007  Kyrgyzstan Dordoi-Dynamo 2–1 Mahendra Police Club    Nepal Punjab Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan 2,000 [18]
2008  Tajikistan Regar-TadAZ 1–1*[a] Dordoi-Dynamo  Kyrgyzstan Spartak Stadium, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 10,000 [19]
2009  Tajikistan Regar-TadAZ 2–0 Dordoi-Dynamo  Kyrgyzstan Metallurg Stadium, Tursunzoda, Tajikistan 10,000 [20]
2010  Myanmar Yadanarbon 1–0† Dordoi-Dynamo  Kyrgyzstan Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar 23,720 [21]
2011  Chinese Taipei Taiwan Power Company 3–2 Phnom Penh Crown  Cambodia National Stadium, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 3,238 [22]
2012  Tajikistan Istiklol 2–1 Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari  Palestine Central Republican Stadium, Dushanbe, Tajikistan 19,323 [23]
2013  Turkmenistan Balkan 1–0 KRL  Pakistan Hang Jebat Stadium, Malacca, Malaysia 578 [24]
2014  Turkmenistan HTTU Aşgabat 2–1 Rimyongsu  North Korea Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka 200 [25]
AFC Challenge League (2024–present)
2024–25 v

Performance by club

[edit]
Performance in the AFC President's Cup and AFC Challenge League by club
Club Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up
Tajikistan Regar-TadAZ 3 0 2005, 2008, 2009 —
Kyrgyzstan Dordoi Bishkek 2 4 2006, 2007 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010
Myanmar Yadanarbon 1 0 2010 —
Chinese Taipei Taiwan Power Company 1 0 2011 —
Tajikistan Istiklol 1 0 2012 —
Turkmenistan Nebitçi 1 0 2013 —
Turkmenistan Ýedigen 1 0 2014 —
Tajikistan Khatlon 0 1 — 2006
Nepal Nepal Police Club 0 1 — 2007
Cambodia Phnom Penh Crown 0 1 — 2011
State of Palestine Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari 0 1 — 2012
Pakistan KRL 0 1 — 2014
North Korea Rimyongsu 0 1 — 2014

Performance by nation

[edit]
Performance in finals by nation
Nation Winners Runners-up Total
 Tajikistan 4 1 5
 Kyrgyzstan 2 4 6
 Turkmenistan 2 0 2
 Chinese Taipei 1 0 1
 Myanmar 1 0 1
 Cambodia 0 1 1
   Nepal 0 1 1
 North Korea 0 1 1
 Pakistan 0 1 1
 Palestine 0 1 1


Performance by coach

[edit]
Coach Club Winners
Tajikistan Makhmadjon Khabibulloev Tajikistan Regar TadAZ 2005, 2008, 2009
Kyrgyzstan Boris Podkorytov Kyrgyzstan Dordoi-Dinamo 2006, 2007
Myanmar U Zaw Lay Aung Myanmar Yadanarbon FC 2010
Serbia Nikola Kavazović Tajikistan Istiklol 2012
Chinese Taipei Chen Kuei-jen Chinese Taipei Taiwan Power Company 2011
Turkmenistan Rahym Kurbanmämmedow Turkmenistan Balkan 2013
Turkmenistan Begench Garayev Turkmenistan HTTU Aşgabat 2014

Awards

[edit]

Top scorers

[edit]
Season Player Goals
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 player

[edit]
Season Player Club
2005 - -
2006 - -
2007 Kyrgyzstan Valery Kashuba Dordoi-Dynamo
2008 - -
2009 Tajikistan Khurshed Mahmudov Regar-TadAZ
2010 Kyrgyzstan Mirlan Murzaev Dordoi-Dynamo
2011 Chinese Taipei Chen Po-liang Taipower
2012 Tajikistan Alisher Tuychiev Istiqlol
2013 Turkmenistan Amir Gurbani Balkan
2014 Turkmenistan Suleyman Muhadow HTTU Asgabat

Top goalscorers

[edit]
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

[edit]

Notes

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  1. ^ The score was 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Regar TadAZ won the penalty shoot-out 4–3.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "AFC President's Cup: The end of a glorious journey". www.the-afc.com. Archived from the original on 2024-06-08. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  2. ^ "ACL: East vs West final proposed". AFC. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  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. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "AFC Executive Committee approves biggest prize purse in Asian club football history from 2024/25; announces AFC Women's Champions League". AFC. 14 August 2023. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  6. ^ "AFC Club Competitions 2024/25 Slot Allocation" (PDF). Football Association of Singapore. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 2024-05-24. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  8. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". Archived from the original on 2018-08-18. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  9. ^ "ACL: East vs West final proposed". The-afc.com. 2013-11-25. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ "Pivotal reforms approved by AFC Competitions Committee". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 2024-05-24. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  14. ^ The AFC Hub (2024-06-19). AFC Challenge League™ 2024/25. Archived from the original on 2024-06-20. Retrieved 2024-06-20 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "AFC Cup and Presidents Cup". rsssf. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  16. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2005 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  17. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2006 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  18. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2007 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  19. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2008 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  20. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2009 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  21. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2010 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  22. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2011 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  23. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2012 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  24. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2013 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  25. ^ "AFC President's Cup 2014 - Results, fixtures, tables and stats - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
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