Before the AFC Challenge Cup began India tried qualifying the normal way but how did that work out? Just look at the last qualifying round for the AFC Asian Cup before 2006 (2004 AFC Asian Cup) and tell me how the Challenge Cup nations did... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_AFC_Asian_Cup_qualification
The 2000 one had us play against Uzbekistan and United Arab Emirates. How did that one turn out?How were we developing then? How were the other SAFF or Challenge Cup teams doing?
That is why the AFC created the AFC Challenge Cup and separated us from it because they saw we were to crap to play in the qualifiers and that it did not look good on them to have 10 good teams and then millions of crap ones.
Then look what happens. 2 years after the Challenge Cup happens India qualifies for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in around 20 years. 18 of those before Challenge Cup.
Also another counter to the CHAN is the regional competitions that are held in Asia. They dont have a SAFF Cup or EAFF Cup in Africa but we do and it allows us to find teams like Afghanistan or Nepal. Teams who never amounted to anything before.
ofcourse there is nothing hidden about the fact afc want india to take the game to next level hence the afc challenge cup serves it well and thats fine.
yes teams like saff and asean and central asia dont qualify because the previous format is wrong..we need uefa format with 5/6 or even 7 teams at times per group and every1 getting home and away games..that gives u 10/12 games and the chance to utlise home advantage which we have seen so far is non existance in asia..you see teams in europe like latvia, republic of ireland, bulgaria etc make it..yes our standard is low and we need proper pathway to get there but im certain that team india had after the 2006 asian cup qlfrs was better than it has now.
oh they have those cups in africa, cecafa cup, cocafa cup, arab cup and all sorts which does give them exposure but cup of nations every2 years and more games on regular basis helps them..here we can often go a whole year or 2 without a competitive game from afc..why because lower ranked teams in asia are out before the rest of the world starts their qualifiers..heres to hoping we do get better things with time..im one of those who dont expect overnight change in things so with time things can evolve..
Probably the current format fits the pockets of AFC. They are not as rich as UEFA. Add to that the huge size of Asia compared to tiny-winy Europe. If you arrange home/away basis matches then its gonna punch a big hole in the pockets. And they cannot possibly form groups with neighboring countries in it to save money as it will put very strong ones in one (East Asia) and very weak ones (South Asia) in another group
Why? What is this kicking ass to UEFA and Europe as if they are the gods of football and know what they doing? The UEFA model is SHIT in my opinion. Helping the good nations. Give me one success story from UEFA which is only because of the UEFA model. You cant. For National teams and Cups the UEFA model has done shit for smaller nations. How has San Marino gotten any better from playing England recently? They will still go home accountants and normal people with human jobs and no one will give a damn after a while.
Now go through history. We have had the UEFA model before in Asia. What has it done? NOTHING! Nothing had happened. Nothing!
Also let me get this over with... people think that playing 10 national team games a year that you will magically become much better. That is not 100% true. That is part of the truth. The real truth is that you need to a proper domestic field as well.
For example... Pakistan. You can have them play 10-15 matches a year but they will not get better. They will still be crap because the foreigners are not that good at all and the domestic league is shit. A 4 month Pakistani Premier League. FOUR MONTHS!!!!! My Academy league is longer than this!!!! Do you guys even have a youth league? Maybe this is why the AFC keeps Pakistan out of the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup. You guys would never be able to compete. 4 months and dont think that would magically change if they allowed you guys in the AFC Champions League because Pakistan had the chance before but never took it then.
Apparently the draw has been postponed till November. This time the AFC decided to allow a bye to the actual tournament for the hosts and that is what is believed to be the reason for the delay in draw.
Personally I hope that it will be either India or the Philippines who host the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. India because we can easily host it. Salt Lake Stadium, Fatorda Stadium, Paljor Stadium, JNS. Easy.
The reason Philippines is because the tournament has been hosted in the SAFF region for to long and it needs to be hosted by another nation. The Philippines have some good stadiums and on my friends most recent visit he said it was a very nice place to be in.
im not saying uefa model is perfect im even advocating for the african model where u see few new teams at every cup of nations and big boys arent protected and they dont have 4/5 big teams anymore..in uefa u gave san marino example but thats like bhutan..small talent pool..they have 30k population wat u gonna expect from them..but with time u have seen moldova, malta, iceland, northern ireland etc all starting to pick results here and there..yes we in asia are long way back, in saff due to cricket and politics..and afc has to spend wisely and thats what they doing..they are defo not doing it for the continent but their own interest.
in relation to pakistan i agree with ur every point and the blame lies with people running the game however i was not just speaking about pakistan but every1 in relation to it..imagine if CAF says to likes of niger, cape verde, ethiopia etc that 20 of them must compete for 1 spot...while through main rounds...they managed to get 3/2 lower ranked teams into the cup of nations..uncertainty of out come is always in the interest of the game.. but i guess no1 gives a hoot if india or pkn or bdesh qualify for asia cup because the majority is hooked on cricket..whereas in africa football is national sport in pretty much every country..
Comments
Before the AFC Challenge Cup began India tried qualifying the normal way but how did that work out? Just look at the last qualifying round for the AFC Asian Cup before 2006 (2004 AFC Asian Cup) and tell me how the Challenge Cup nations did... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_AFC_Asian_Cup_qualification
they are making sure that India qualifies for 2015 afc cup
> usaindia said:
> they are making sure that India qualifies for 2015 afc cup
ofcourse there is nothing hidden about the fact afc want india to take the game to next level hence the afc challenge cup serves it well and thats fine.
i would like to see uefa model both in afc,acl cups also
Probably the current format fits the pockets of AFC. They are not as rich as UEFA. Add to that the huge size of Asia compared to tiny-winy Europe. If you arrange home/away basis matches then its gonna punch a big hole in the pockets. And they cannot possibly form groups with neighboring countries in it to save money as it will put very strong ones in one (East Asia) and very weak ones (South Asia) in another group
Why? What is this kicking ass to UEFA and Europe as if they are the gods of football and know what they doing? The UEFA model is SHIT in my opinion. Helping the good nations. Give me one success story from UEFA which is only because of the UEFA model. You cant. For National teams and Cups the UEFA model has done shit for smaller nations. How has San Marino gotten any better from playing England recently? They will still go home accountants and normal people with human jobs and no one will give a damn after a while.
http://www.cissoccer.com/news/11771.html (Russian)
Arsenalkid700
Success of WIFA model is there to see in the rankings of its member countries...No need to see anything else
im not saying uefa model is perfect im even advocating for the african model where u see few new teams at every cup of nations and big boys arent protected and they dont have 4/5 big teams anymore..in uefa u gave san marino example but thats like bhutan..small talent pool..they have 30k population wat u gonna expect from them..but with time u have seen moldova, malta, iceland, northern ireland etc all starting to pick results here and there..yes we in asia are long way back, in saff due to cricket and politics..and afc has to spend wisely and thats what they doing..they are defo not doing it for the continent but their own interest.