Rescheduled Asean Cup dates to prevent overlap with AFC’s premier club competitions

Singapore - The Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championship is poised to witness increased participation from South-east Asian nations with the unveiling of new dates for the biennial tournament on August 27th.

The tournament proper will now take place from Dec 8 to Jan 5, instead of Nov 23 to Dec 21, “to ensure optimum strength and performance of national teams at the tournament”, the AFF said in a media statement after considering “recommendations from several member associations”.

The dates were moved after its earlier ones had clashed with the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) top-tier club competitions, which also involves the region’s top players, sparking fear that the Asean tournament, also known as the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, will feature under-strength national teams.

Under the latest schedule, Singapore will play their Group A matches at home against Cambodia on Dec 11, away against Brunei or Timor-Leste on Dec 14, at home against Thailand on Dec 17 and away at Malaysia on Dec 20.

If the Lions progress to the last four, they will play the two-legged semi-finals on Dec 26 and 29 or Dec 27 and 30. The two-legged finals will be played on Jan 2 and 5.

The Straits Times reported in March that the original schedule had clashed with the AFC’s new club competitions – the top-tier AFC Champions League (ACL) Elite and the AFC Champions League 2.

The ACL Elite, which has match days from Nov 25-27 and Dec 2-4, comprises the continent’s top clubs such as Malaysia Super League winners Johor Darul Takzim and Thai League 1 champions Buriram United.

The ACL 2, which will see action from Nov 26-28 and Dec 3-5, involves teams from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore, which will be represented by Lion City Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers.

The other countries Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei and Timor-Leste were not affected as their clubs play in the new third-tier AFC Challenge League, which does not clash with the Asean Cup, whose Oct 5-15 qualification round involving Brunei and Timor-Leste remains unchanged.

With the rescheduling, Tampines chairman Desmond Ong has pledged his support to release his players for international duty.

He said: “Where possible, we will always support the national team whether it is with the release of our coaches or players to help the Lions cause. 

“Similarly, as long as the fitness of our players permits and the national coach picks them, we will look forward to doing so for the Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup as the dates will no longer clash with the AFC club competitions.”

However, as the Asean Cup is played outside the Fifa international window, clubs are not obligated to release their players for the biennial tournament, which means the region’s top stars could still miss out.

This happened during the 2022 edition, when Thailand were without Buriram’s attacking duo Supachai Chaided and Suphanat Muenta.

There could also be issues with centralised training camps if they take place just before the Dec 8 kick-off as they would still clash with the AFC club competition dates. The third match day of the AFF’s Asean Club Championship group stage also starts on Jan 8, three days after the Asean Cup final.

Lions and Sailors captain Hariss Harun said: “The latest development increases the opportunity of the top players from each country featuring in the competition, and it should be good news for the national team coaches.

“But we have to remember it is a long season for Singaporean clubs, while regional clubs also could be fighting on various fronts and are not obligated to release players for the national teams.

“As players, we want to play in every game where possible but this may not be possible because it is exhausting physically and mentally in a long season. We will do our best when called upon, but the clubs will have the final say and the football associations will have to find middle ground with them.”

ST has reached out to the Football Association of Singapore for comment.