Committees
Chairing the Committee’s fifth meeting, Ms. Kanya Keomany also extended her wholehearted congratulations to the six Asian sides for sealing their places at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 and wished tomorrow’s finalists as well as the AFC’s representatives in the FIFA Inter-Confederation Play-Off Tournament the very best of
Moving on to the agenda, the Committee approved the recommendation of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) as the hosts for the 2028 and 2030 editions of the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup™ – a decision which will see China PR provide the backdrop for Asia’s rising stars for a record seventh and eighth time.
At the same time, following the decisions to reform the men’s equivalent in January this year, members of the Committee also recommended similar structural reforms for the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup™ and the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup™, noting that comparable findings were observed across both competitions after an extensive review.
AFC U17 WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP™ QUALIFIERS FORMAT
The Committee agreed to mandate Regional Associations (RAs) to organise their own qualifying competitions as the pathway to the Finals, effective from the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup 2028™ Qualifiers (to be held in 2027).
Following an in-depth analysis of the historical performance levels from the last five editions of the competition, the Committee noted the need to balance the continuing disparity between the teams in the East and West regions whilst ensuring diverse representation and approved the allocation as follows: ASEAN – 4, East – 4, Central – 1, South – 1, West – 1, Host – 1.
Under this proposal, the Finals host will receive automatic qualification; no other teams will receive automatic entry.
To align with the competitions calendar, RAs must utilise one of two established windows: July-September or December for the Finals to be held in the first half of the subsequent year.
AFC U20 WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP™ QUALIFIERS FORMAT
Aligning with the recent changes in the men’s structure, a new two-phase format, featuring a promotion and relegation mechanism, for the AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup™ Qualifiers was approved. This restructure aims to bridge technical gaps while meeting the diverse needs of Member Associations at various stages of development.
Qualification Phase
This phase will consist of 20 teams divided into five groups of four. The top two-placed in each group and one best second-placed team will advance to the Finals. To maintain competitive standards, the bottom-placed teams will be relegated to the Development Phase for the subsequent edition.
Development Phase
This phase will accommodate an estimated 19 teams across four groups (subject to the final entry status). Top-performing teams will earn promotion to the Qualification Phase for the next cycle. This phase focuses on facilitating technical development and providing essential tournament experience.
Key Features
The 2027 edition of the Qualifiers will use the current draw seeding as a baseline, with subsequent seedings determined by promotion and relegation results. The existing single-round match format will remain unchanged and only the Finals host will receive automatic qualification.
The Committee also mandated the AFC Administration to engage with the RAs to finalise the detailed competition plans and operational arrangements for the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup™ Qualifiers and to confirm and/or adjust the format of the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup™ Qualifiers as necessary, subject to the final entry status.
The AFC Women’s Champions League 2026/27™ Regulations were also approved as were the amendments to the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup Regulations for the 2027 and 2028 editions.
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