The Asian Football Confederation has finalised its revised international structure this week, creating a window of opportunity for Bangladesh to get more exposures, said an official of the Bangladesh Football Federation on Thursday. BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag told reporters that the AFC has relayed the message to them on Thursday. ‘It is really a great opportunity for us as we will be able to play more matches in future,’ said an elated BFF secretary.
The AFC is going to introduce a 24-team Asian Cup from 2019, which means the forthcoming Asian Cup, scheduled to begin in Australia from January 9, will be last to feature 16 teams.
The AFC also changed the format of preliminary rounds of FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The draw of World Cup and Asian Cup preliminary round qualifiers will be held on February 10.
Bangladesh will play their first two matches on March 12 and 15 next year, he said.
Depending on the number of entries from the 47-member associations, the teams will be divided into eight groups in the preliminary stage.
If the amount of entries goes above 40, only the top 33 teams in the AFC ranking will be able to play preliminary stage and the rest of the teams will play play-off matches for the remaining spots.
It means Bangladesh, currently 33rd in the AFC ranking, has a bright chance to avoid the play-off if it can maintain its present standing.
The eight group winners and four second best teams will qualify for the FIFA World Cup final round qualifiers and also the AFC Asia Cup finals.
Presently, only ten teams battle it out in the final round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary qualification round will compete for the remaining slots in the AFC Asian Cup finals in six groups of four teams each.
The preliminary qualification round is expected to be finished by March 29, 2016.
-With New Age input
