AFC Introduces New Competition Called AFC Nations League, Here's the Form

Illustration - AFC introduced a new competition called the AFC Nations League, which will be attended by the national football teams of Asian countries including Indonesia. (X)

JAKARTA - The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) introduced the AFC Nations League, a new competition for national teams in Asia, which will later be followed by the Indonesian national team.

This competition will provide an opportunity for countries in Asia to play more structured, scheduled, and competitive matches.

"This step is part of AFC's ongoing efforts to increase development opportunities for Member Associations (Member Associations/MA) and to build a more structured and sustainable international match framework," wrote the AFC's official website, Sunday.

This competition was introduced by the AFC as an effort to overcome the problem of a national team in Asia to get a worthy test opponent. High operational costs and the lack of competitive value in a match often make international matches lose their essence. The AFC does not want to let this be allowed to linger.

Later, the AFC Nations League matches will be present in the FIFA calendar, which next year starts in March. Meanwhile, this competition has already been played in Europe.

"This proposed competition aims to ensure the regular and meaningful staging of international matches during the FIFA window, promote competitive balance through team meetings at an equivalent level, increase cost efficiency through centralized coordination, and provide a clearer progression path for national teams," wrote the AFC official website.

AFC General Secretary Datuk Seri Windsor said this step was made by his party to present consistent and quality international matches for each competing country.

Not only about the technical aspects on the field, AFC also hopes that this competition will attract great interest in terms of commercial.

"The AFC Nations League is an important step in our ongoing commitment to support the development of the 47 AFC Member Associations. By providing a structured competition platform during FIFA's international match windows, accompanied by a better calendar stability and clear sports incentives, we aim to ensure consistent access to high-quality matches while addressing the logistical and cost challenges faced by national teams," said Datuk.

"In addition to the benefits of sports, we also see strong interest and increasing demand from commercial partners for the Nations League-style competition," he added.