2021 AFF Championship

The 2021 AFF Championship will be the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), and the 7th under the name AFF Suzuki Cup.[1]

2021 AFF Championship
AFF Suzuki Cup 2021-2022
Tournament details
Dates5 December 2021 - 1 January 2022
Teams10 (from 1 sub-confederation)

The final tournament was originally scheduled to run from 23 November to 31 December 2020.[2] However the tournament was postponed and rescheduled at least twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tournament was first rescheduled to run from 11 April to 8 May 2021[3] and the schedule later pushed backed further to December 5, 2021 to January 1, 2022.[4]

Vietnam are the defending champions.[5]

Format

The format of the 2021 AFF Championship is set to remain the same with the format adopted in 2018. In the group stage of the competition proper, ten teams will be drawn in two groups of five with each team to play home-and-away matches against each other.[5]

However, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia, it was considered that the tournament be held in one or two countries instead with Vietnam potentially hosting all or some matches. Up to five substitutions may be allowed as per recommendation of FIFA.[6] However the organizers prefer to hold the tournament under its original format, which featured home-and-away games.[3]

References
  1. Ooi, Kin Fai (16 March 2020). "AFF Championship stays Suzuki for yet another edition". Goal.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. "ASEAN Football Federation sets dates for AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 – Reports". Fox Sport Asia. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. del Carmen, Lorenzo (25 September 2020). "Suzuki Cup to take place in second quarter of 2021". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  4. "AFF Championship rescheduled again due to pandemic". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  5. "AFF Cup 2020 to kick off on November 23". Nhan Dan. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. "Teams allowed to register 23-player squads for AFF Suzuki Cup 2020". Nhân Dân. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
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