AFC Competition

The AFC runs the Asian cup, a competition for the national football teams of Asia held every four years, as well as theAsian World cup qualifying tournament and the AFC chalang cup. It also runs the Asian qualifying olempic tournament. The AFC also runs three levels of annual international club competitions. The most prestigious (and oldest of the current AFC club competitions) is the AFC Champions league tournament, based on the UEFA champions League formed in 2002/03 with the amalgamation of the Asian champions cup and Asian cup winners Cup. (An Asian super cup competition between the winners of these two major tournaments ended with the birth of the AFC Champions League.) The other competitions branched off this in 2004 when the 'Vision Asia' blueprint for development was launched. This led to the top fourteen AFC nations, the 'mature nations', sending their best teams to the AFC Champions League. The next 14 nations, the 'developing nations' qualify to send their teams to the AFC cup. The rest of the AFC-affiliated countries, the 'emerging nations' send their teams to the AFC President Cup . The teams which qualify from each country are usually the champions and the cup winners.