The winners of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2021 AFC Champions League, entering the qualifying play-offs, if they have not qualified through their domestic performance, the first time since 2014 that an AFC Cup holders are guaranteed automatic qualification.[2]
The competition has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic until at least the end of June 2020.[3]
Association team allocation
The 47 AFC member associations are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions, with the allocation of slots for the 2019 and 2020 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2017 AFC rankings (Entry Manual Article 2.3):[4]
All associations which do not receive direct slots in the AFC Champions League group stage are eligible to enter the AFC Cup.
In each zone, the number of groups in the group stage is determined based on the number of entries, with the number of slots filled through play-offs same as the number of groups:
In the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone, there are three groups in the group stage, including a total of 9 direct slots, with the 3 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
In the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone, there is one group in the group stage, including a total of 3 direct slots, with the 1 remaining slot filled through play-offs.
The top associations participating in the AFC Cup in each zone as per the AFC rankings get at least one direct slot in the group stage (including losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs), while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
For the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN zone:
The associations ranked 1st to 3rd each get two direct slots.
The associations ranked 4th to 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 7th or below each get one play-off slot.
For the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia zone:
The associations ranked 1st to 3rd each get one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 4th or below each get one play-off slot.
The maximum number of slots for each association is one-third of the total number of eligible teams in the top division.
If any association gives up its direct slots, they are redistributed to the highest eligible association, with each association limited to a maximum of two direct slots.
If any association gives up its play-off slots, they are annulled and not redistributed to any other association.
If the number of teams in the play-offs in any zone is fewer than twice the number of group stage slots filled through play-offs, the play-off teams of the highest eligible associations are given byes to the group stage.
Association ranking
For the 2020 AFC Cup, the associations are allocated slots according to their association ranking which was published on 15 December 2017,[5] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, as well as their national team's FIFA World Rankings, during the period between 2014 and 2017.[4][6]
Northern Mariana Islands (NMI): The Northern Mariana Islands, although not a FIFA member, are an AFC associate member, and their participation in AFC club competitions is dependent on AFC's approval. They did not implement the AFC Cup club licensing system.[7]
Teams
The following 48 teams from 28 associations enter the competition. Teams from Brunei and Timor-Leste entered the AFC Cup for the first time.[8]
AFC Champions League (ACL): Teams played in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, but failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage. Had they advanced to the AFC Champions League group stage, they would not play in the AFC Cup, and would be replaced by the standby team from the same association if such team were available.
Brunei (BRU):MS ABDB, the 2018–19 Brunei Super League champions, failed to obtain an AFC license. As a result, Indera, the league 4th place (only team with an AFC license), enter the qualifying play-offs.[9]
East Asia Zone (EAZ):Tai Po (Hong Kong) withdrew from the group stage after the draw (originally drawn in Group I).[10] As a result, Kitchee (Hong Kong) entered the group stage instead of the play-off round to replace Tai Po, and Taipower (Chinese Taipei) and Ulaanbaatar City (Mongolia) entered the play-off round instead of the preliminary round 2, which was cancelled.[11]
Singapore (SIN):DPMM, the 2019 Singapore Premier League champions, is a team from Brunei and thus ineligible to represent Singapore in AFC club competitions. As a result, Hougang United, the league 3rd place, enter the group stage.
Vietnam (VIE):Hà Nội, the 2019 V.League 1 champions and 2019 Vietnamese Cup winners, failed to obtain an AFC license (as their U15 team did not participate in Vietnam National U15 Youth League).[12] As a result, Than Quảng Ninh, the league 3rd place, enter the group stage.
Location of teams of the 2020 AFC Cup. Red: West Asia Zone; Yellow: Central Asia Zone; Green: South Asia Zone; Blue: ASEAN Zone; Purple: East Asia Zone (p) Qualifying play-off participants Withdrawn teams
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone; E: East Asia Zone).[13]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the following changes to the schedule had been made:
The AFC announced on 11 February 2020 that all East Asia Zone preliminary round, play-off round and group stage matches would be postponed.[14]
Preliminary round: from 5 and 12 February to 7 and 14 April
Play-off round: from 19 and 26 February to 21 and 28 April
Matchday 1: from 11 March to 6 May
Matchday 2: from 15 April to 13 May
Matchday 3: from 29 April to 20 May
Matchday 4: from 13 May to 6 May
Matchday 5: from 27 May to 17 June
Matchday 6: from 17 June to 24 June
The AFC announced on 12 March 2020 that all West Asia Zone group stage matches yet to be played would be postponed to new dates yet to be confirmed, and the West Asia Zonal semi-finals would be postponed from 25–26 May and 15–16 June to 24–25 August and 14–15 September.[15]
The AFC announced on 18 March 2020 that all AFC Cup matches would be postponed until further notice.[16]
Stage
Round
Draw date
First leg
Second leg
Preliminary stage
Preliminary round 1
No draw
22 January 2020 (S)
29 January 2020 (S)
Preliminary round 2
5 February 2020 (C, S), Cancelled (E)
12 February 2020 (C, S), Cancelled (E)
Play-off stage
Play-off round
21–22 January 2020 (W, A), 19 February 2020 (C, S), TBC (E)
28–29 January 2020 (W, A), 26 February 2020 (C, S), TBC (E)
In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.3).[1]
The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each zone was determined based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the second leg.[17] The seven winners of the play-off round (one each from West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, East Asia Zone, and three from ASEAN Zone) would advance to the group stage to join the 29 direct entrants.
The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2019, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[19] The 36 teams were drawn into nine groups of four: three groups each in the West Asia Zone (Groups A–C) and the ASEAN Zone (Groups F–H), and one group each in the Central Asia Zone (Group D), the South Asia Zone (Group E), and the East Asia Zone (Group I). Teams from the same association in the West Asia Zone and ASEAN Zone could not be drawn into the same group.
In the group stage, each group was played on a double round-robin basis, with matches played home-and-away before the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but to be moved to centralised venues after restart which was eventually cancelled. The following teams would have advanced to the knockout stage:
The winners of each group and the best runners-up in the West Asia Zone and the ASEAN Zone would have advanced to the Zonal semi-finals.
The winners of each group in the Central Asia Zone, the South Asia Zone, and the East Asia Zone would have advanced to the Inter-zone play-off semi-finals.
Tiebreakers
The teams were 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 10.5):[1]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;(this tiebreaker was removed since the matches were played in centralised venues after restart)
If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were 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 were 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);