Africa y Asia fútbol: abril 2014

lunes, 28 de abril de 2014

sábado, 26 de abril de 2014

Así quedan los octavos de final de la Champions League de Asia

La fechas serán: (ida: 6 y 7/5; vuelta: 13 e 14/5):

(1ºA) Al Shabab - Arabia Saudita x Al Ittihad - Arabia Saudita (2ºC)
(1ºB) Foolad Khouzestan - Irán Al Sadd - Qatar (2ºD)
(1ºC) Al Ain - EAU x Al Jazira - EAU (2ºA)
(1ºD) Al Hilal - Arabia Saudita x Bunyodkor - Uzbekistán (2ºB)

(1ºE) Pohang Steelers - Corea del Sur x Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors - Corea del Sur (2ºG)
(1ºF) FC Seoul - Corea del Sur x Kawasaki Frontale - Japón(2ºH)
(1ºG) Guangzhou Evergrande - China x Cerezo Osaka - Japón (2ºE)
(1ºH) Western Sydney Wanderers - Australia x Sanfrecce Hiroshima - Japón (2ºF)

Liga de Marruecos: CR Alhucemas( 1)-HUS de Agadir( 1)

Liga de Marruecos: RAJA de Casablanca( 1)-FUS de Rabat( 0)

Copa de la CAF: El Jadida( 2)-El Ahly( 1): se decidió en el descuento

Liga de Marruecos: OC Safi( 1)-MAT Tetuán( 1)

miércoles, 16 de abril de 2014

ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals

In order to give opportunity for more Member Associations to be part of Asia’s flagship competition, the AFC Executive Committee on Wednesday decided to approve a proposal to increase the number of teams in the AFC Asian Cup from 16 to 24 from the 2019 edition.

The committee, which met under the chairmanship of AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, also decided to remove AFC Challenge Cup from the list of AFC competitions. The 2014 AFC Challenge Cup, to be played in Maldives from May 19 to 30, will be the last edition of this competition.

At the outset, Shaikh Salman congratulated Japan for winning the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup saying it’s a big achievement and once again proves our dominance in women’s football.

He also wished Japan, Iran, Korea Republic and Australia the very best for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil apart from hoping for success for the forthcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup, AFC Challenge Cup and AFC Futsal Championship.

The committee also ratified the AFC Competitions Committee's proposal to merge the preliminary qualification rounds for FIFA World Cup qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup.

Depending on the number of entries, the Member Associations will be divided into eight groups in the preliminary stage. The eight group winners and four second best teams among all the eight groups will qualify for the FIFA World Cup final round of qualifiers and also the AFC Asian Cup finals. Presently, only ten teams battle it out in the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary qualification round (24 teams) will compete for the remaining slots in the AFC Asian Cup finals in six groups of four teams each. The final round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers and AFC Asian Cup qualifiers will be separated.

The committee also approved the proposal to rank the Member Associations based on their national teams and clubs’ performance over last four years in AFC competitions. Thirty per cent of points will be allocated for national teams’ performances while seventy per cent for the clubs’ showings.

Upon confirmation of the rankings, the MAs ranked 1 to 24 will be eligible to play in the AFC Champions League. Apart from being in the top 24, the MAs should fulfill club licensing criteria, have integrity programmes within the MA, organisation of professional league and its governance, facilities as required in the regulations and sound supporting system for logistical matters in order to be eligible to receive a direct slot(s).

The MAs ranked 25 to 32 will be eligible to participate in AFC Cup group stage while MAs ranked 33 to 47 will be provided with an opportunity to play in AFC Cup playoff stage.

The proposal to increase rest days from one to two in the qualifiers and finals of the AFC U-16, U-19 and U-22 championships was also approved but this will be implemented from 2017 onwards.

The AFC Executive Committee also approved recommendations from AFC’s standing committees, the new AFC Champions League and AFC Cup formats and the proposed amendments to the AFC Statutes, which will be presented to the AFC Extraordinary Congress in Sao Paulo on June 9 for approval.

miércoles, 2 de abril de 2014

Liverpool Football Club to reveal global online strategy at the Soccerex Asian Forum

Global fan engagement will be on the agenda at the Soccerex Asian Forum with Liverpool FC confirming that their Head of International Digital Development, Paul Rogers will be delivering a ‘masterclass’ presentation at the Forum, taking place on 13 -14 May, The Dead Sea, Jordan in partnership with the Asian Football Development Project.

‘Thinking global, acting local’, the philosophy being installed by Rogers sees local staff combine specific club news with cultural events and traditions across a variety of online platforms. The club have become leaders in terms of social media having set up 18 international Twitter accounts and 10 international Facebook pages - tweeting and delivering content in more languages than any other club in the world including Arabic, Indonesian and Thai.

The approach of localisation over translation seems to be working for the five-time European champions. The launch of dedicated language sites in May last year has seen a huge surge in website traffic, increased online revenue and improved engagement in targeted email campaigns, all of which will be outlined in Paul’s presentation.

Commenting on his involvement, Paul Rogers said: “The work we’ve been doing at Liverpool FC is centered around expanding our global brand through a number of online channels in local territories, especially in Asia, so we’re very excited about attending the Forum in Jordan to network with existing colleagues as well engaging with representatives from new markets.”

Soccerex Marketing Director David Wright added: “Liverpool FC’s fan base stretches to all corners of the globe; making the club one of the world’s biggest footballing brands. The recent work by Paul and his team is an example of ‘best practice’ on how to engage with a club’s global fan base and will be a great addition to our already international packed speaker lineup at the Forum.”

The Forum, held in partnership with the Asian Football Development Project founded and chaired by HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, will bring together the leading figures from the world of Asian football as well as other international football experts to discuss the development of the game across Asia at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre The conference agenda will include a review of the opportunities for growth and the challenges facing Asian football.