Tournament tinkering: Part 3 – AFC

In the third, and final instalment, I take a look at how a Nations League could work for AFC (Asian Football Confederation)

 

Format

 

With the AFC being a 46-member* confederation, how do we go about formatting?

 

Will there be promotion and relegation? Yes, and that’ll be explained shortly.

 

How many teams will be promoted, and how many will be relegated?

 

When will this be played?

 

What will the finals look like?

 

All questions will be answered.

 

*47, but one member has been inactive for more than four years, so aren’t included in the latest ranking.

 

Let’s look at the current ranking.

 

How do we go about splitting the sides into groups and leagues? Thanks to Charlie Pumfrey, the sides could be split based on sub-confederations, as we see here:

 

Firstly, let’s take a look at the 12-team sub-confederations, starting with AFF (South East Asia), and WAFF.

 

Both sub-confederations have an even number of sides, which makes it pretty simple to split up further. Do we go 4-4-4, or 3-3-3-3?

 

Let’s go 4-4-4 for both, and see how it pans out. We now have three divisions of four with each side in “Division A”, “Division B”, and “Division C”. Or how about 3-3-3-3 with “Division A”, “Division B”, “Division C”, and “Division D”? Which one do you think will work best?

 

Teams in their respective sub-confederations will be split into divisions based on current ranking (see above).

 

Now then, let’s take a look at the remaining three sub-confederations, starting with the 10-team EAFF. This one will be simple as each side will be playing in two divisions of five (“Division A” and “Division B”)  with the first placed side in “Division A” going through to the finals, and the fifth-placed side in the same division being relegated to “Division B”. To make the league format that bit more interesting, the fourth-placed side in “Division A” will be entered into a relegation/promotion play-off against the second-placed side of “Division B”.

 

CAFA

With just six sides in the sub-confederation, there would be two divisions of three with the side finishing top of “Division A” qualifying for the finals, and the bottom side in the same division being relegated. In “Division B”, the top side will win promotion.

 

Finally, SAFF. Due to the fact that its an odd-numbereded sub-conference, there will be a two-legged playoff between the two lowest ranked sides to determine which side will play in “Division B”. as for “Division A”, the winner goes through to the finals whilst the bottom side will be relegated.

 

The finals

Let’s take each “Division A” winner, plus the best three second-placed side to make up a quarter-final.

 

Then, pit each side in an overall table from 1st to 8th.

 

So, the final eight will look like this: 1v8, 2v7, 3v6, and 4v5 (The top four sides will earn home quarter-finals, with the next four playing away.

 

The semi finals will see two sides host the other two semi-finalists (based on position) with the highest-placed winning semi-finalist earning a home final.

 

How often would the tournament take place? Every two years when there isn’t an Asia Cup. Also, this tournament would be played during the usual international break.

 

So, there goes the final installment of my Tournament Tinkering series. What are your thoughts on this proposed tournament?