AFC announces expanded Women's Club Championship pilot

Published at :August 12, 2022 at 8:35 PM

Modified at :August 12, 2022 at 8:35 PM

The tournament spearheads preparations for the AFC Women’s Champions League launch in 2024.

A record six clubs from as many Member Associations (MAs) will compete in another thrilling AFC Women’s Club Championship – Pilot Tournament campaign as teams from both the East and West regions prepare to battle for the title.

The expanded competition will be held across two regions for the first time, with the East starting on August 15, 2022, followed by the West, five days later before culminating in a Final between the two champions in conjunction with the AFC Cup™ 2022 Final on October 22.

In the East region, the city of Chonburi in Thailand will host the home side College of Asian Scholars, ISPE WFC from Myanmar, and Taichung Blue Whale from Chinese Taipei. The championship will kick off with a clash between ISPE WFC and Taichung Blue Whale at the Chonburi Stadium on Monday at 7 pm local time.

A face-off between the College of Asian Scholars and ISPE WFC will ensue on August 18 while the final match three days later will be between Taichung Blue Whale FC and the College of Asian Scholars. Meanwhile, in the West, the competition will be hosted in Qarshi, Uzbekistan, at the Markaziy Stadium.

The teams competing in the West region of the AFC Women's Club Championship are the home team Sogdiana-W, India’s Sree Gokulam Kerala FC and Bam Khatoon from the Islamic Republic of Iran after the AFC noted the withdrawal of Jordan’s Orthodox FC on August 5. T

The opening match will see an enticing clash take place between Sogdiana-W and Bam Khatoon FC on August 20 while Sree Gokulam Kerala and Sogdiana-W are set to settle scores three days later.

The final match in the region will commence on August 26 with Bam Khatoon FC taking on Sree Gokulam Kerala. The AFC Women’s Club Championship™ – Pilot Tournament spearheads the preparations for the launch of the AFC Women’s Champions League in 2024, with Japan’s Nippon TV Beleza winning the first edition in 2019 while Jordan’s Amman SC lifted the trophy in 2021.