AGENCIES
KUALA LUMPUR
The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) new national team competition, the AFC Solidarity Cup, was launched at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.
The launch culminated in the draw for the first edition of the competition, which will be played in Malaysia between November 2 and November 15, 2016.
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: “The AFC Solidarity Cup is an exciting initiative to develop national team football in Asia. The AFC is excited about this new tournament - the AFC Solidarity Cup - as we look to deliver the objective of our Vision and Mission which is to make Asian teams stronger on the global stage.”
The new competition brings together aspiring AFC Member Associations, giving teams the opportunity to play competitive international matches when they are not participating in FIFA or AFC national team competitions.
The AFC Solidarity Cup is a unique competition where the focus is on development through increased opportunities to compete at the international level, but also provides targeted education and training, such as coaching, referees and technical analysis. There will also be event management training offered to MAs who hold aspirations to host international tournaments in the future.
The AFC Solidarity Cup logo, also launched at the draw, reflects the key values of the competition: unity, strength, team spirit, solidarity and energy.
