2016 AFC U-23 Championship explained

Tourney Name:AFC U-23 Championship
Year:2016
Other Titles:بطولة آسيا تحت 23 سنة لكرة القدم 2016
Size:200px
Country:Qatar
Dates:12–30 January
Num Teams:16
Confederations:1
Venues:4
Cities:2
Count:1
Matches:32
Goals:103
Top Scorer: Ahmed Alaa
Player: Shoya Nakajima
Prevseason:2013
Nextseason:2018

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2016 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the second edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asia. The tournament was held in Qatar between 12–30 January 2016.[1] [2] A total of 16 teams compete in the tournament. The tournament was also renamed from the "AFC U-22 Championship" to the "AFC U-23 Championship".[1]

For the first time, the AFC U-23 Championship acted as the AFC qualifiers for the Olympic football tournament, replacing the previous process of home-and-away Olympic qualifiers. The top three teams of the tournament qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics men's football tournament in Brazil as the AFC representatives.[3]

Japan won the tournament with a 3–2 final win over South Korea. Both finalists and third-placed Iraq qualified for the Olympics.[4]

Host selection

Qatar was one of the countries which came forward wishing to host the finals competition.[5] They were selected over the other bidding nations Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran.[1]

Qualification

See main article: 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification.

The qualifiers draw was held on Thursday, 4 December 2014.[6] A total of 43 teams were drawn into ten groups, with the ten group winners and the five best runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with Qatar who qualified automatically as hosts.[7]

Qualification rounds were played between 23–31 March 2015,[8] except for Group B which was scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan, but was postponed due to the Lahore church bombings.

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.[9]

TeamQualified asAppearancePrevious best performance
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(2013)
(Group G)
(Group C) (2013)
(Group I)
(Group D) (2013)
(Group E) (2013)

Venues

The tournament was held in four stadiums, located in the cities of Al Rayyan and Doha.

Qatar
Al RayyanDoha
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium
(Al-Sadd Stadium)		Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium
(Lekhwiya Stadium)		Grand Hamad Stadium
(Al-Arabi Stadium)		Suheim bin Hamad Stadium
(Qatar SC Stadium)
Capacity: 15,000Capacity: 12,000Capacity: 18,000Capacity: 15,000

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 12 September 2015, 12:00 AST (UTC+3), at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams.[10] The teams were seeded according to their performance in the previous edition in 2013.[11]

width=25%Pot 1width=25%Pot 2width=25%Pot 3width=25%Pot 4












Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship.

Referees
Assistant referees

Squads

See main article: 2016 AFC U-23 Championship squads. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team could register a maximum of 23 players (minimum three of whom must be goalkeepers).[12]

As the tournament was not held during the FIFA International Match Calendar, clubs were not obligated to release the players.[13]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

TiebreakersThe teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order:[12]
  1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
  3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;
  5. Goal difference in all the group matches;
  6. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
  8. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
  9. Drawing of lots.

All times were local, AST (UTC+3).[14]

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary.[12]

Quarter-finals

------------

Semi-finals

Winners qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

----

Third place play-off

Winner qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics.

Final

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Statistics

Goalscorers

6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Qualified teams for Olympics

The following three teams from AFC qualified for the Olympic football tournament.

TeamQualified onPrevious appearances in tournament1
(1936, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
(1948, 1964, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012)
(1980, 1984, 1988, 2004)

1 Italic indicates host for that year. Statistics include all Olympic format (current Olympic under-23 format started in 1992).

Broadcasting rights

TerritoryChannelRef
Arab worldbeIN Sports
Al-Kass Sports		[17] [18]
Fox Sports[19]
CCTV
EuropeEurosport
Now TV
IRIB
NHK
Latin AmericaFox Sports
Sky Sports
SABC
KBS
BBTV CH7[20]
ONE World Sports[21]
Sport-UZ
VTV[22] [23]

Controversies

Qatar, Syria and Yemen each had at least two players born on 1 January 1993, the cut off date for eligibility in this tournament.[24] [25]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: AFC Competitions Committee meeting. the-afc.com. 28 November 2014.
  2. Web site: AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016. AFC. https://web.archive.org/web/20170331050008/http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/afc/files/afc_competitions_calendar_2016.pdf. 31 March 2017. dead.
  3. Web site: QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD – RIO 2016 – Football . Rio 2016 Official Website . 22 January 2015 . 23 April 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150906102243/http://www.rio2016.com/sites/default/files/users/rio2016_files/fifa-football-en_0.pdf . 6 September 2015 .
  4. Web site: Iraq clinch Asia's final Rio spot. https://web.archive.org/web/20160130064229/http://www.fifa.com/mensolympic/news/y=2016/m=1/news=iraq-clinch-asia-s-final-rio-spot-2757413.html. dead. 30 January 2016. FIFA.com. 29 January 2016.
  5. Web site: Qatar bids to host AFC U-22 championship. QFA. 12 September 2014.
  6. Web site: AFC U-23 Championship 2016 Qualifiers draw. Asian Football Confederation. 3 December 2014.
  7. Web site: Holders Iraq face stern test in AFC U-23 C'ship qualifiers. AFC. 4 December 2014.
  8. Web site: AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015. AFC. https://web.archive.org/web/20141208143533/http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/afc/files/afc_competitions_calendar_2015.pdf. 8 December 2014. dead.
  9. Web site: Participants for AFC U-23 Championship Qatar 2016 confirmed . the-AFC.com . 21 May 2015.
  10. Web site: AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 draw concluded in Doha. AFC. 12 September 2015.
  11. Web site: Stage set for AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 draw. AFC. 11 September 2015.
  12. Web site: Regulations AFC U-23 Championship 2016. AFC. https://web.archive.org/web/20141208142843/http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/afc/files/afc_U-23_championship_2016_regulations.pdf. 8 December 2014. dead.
  13. Web site: Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh to miss Olympic qualifiers. persianfootball.com. 1 January 2016.
  14. Web site: AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 Match Schedule. AFC. https://web.archive.org/web/20170807204720/http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/afc/files/U23C_2016F_matchSchedule.pdf. 7 August 2017. dead.
  15. Web site: Ahmed Alaa lands U23 Top Scorer award. AFC. 31 January 2016.
  16. Web site: Nakajima named AFC U23 Championship MVP. AFC. 31 January 2016.
  17. Web site: لا تفوتوا متابعة بطولة آسيا تحت 23 سنة حصرياً على قنواتنا. beIN Sports Arabia Facebook page. ar. 9 January 2016.
  18. Web site: كأس آسيا الأولمبية في الدوحة مشفرة. Al Riyadh. ar. 11 January 2016.
  19. Web site: AFC U23 Championship 2016 Schedule,Teams,Venues,Live Broadcaster info. sportsmanch.com. 29 December 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160101161952/http://www.sportsmanch.com/afc-u23-championship-2016-schedule-teams-venues-live-broadcaster/. 1 January 2016.
  20. Web site: AFC U23 CHAMPIONSHIP QATAR 2016. BBTV CH7. 12 January 2016. 12 January 2016. 24 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170724083056/http://sports.bugaboo.tv/afcu23.html. dead.
  21. Web site: AFC U23 Championship: Full Daily Schedule. https://web.archive.org/web/20160610012019/http://www.oneworldsports.com/stories/afc-u23-championship-full-schedule/. dead. 10 June 2016. One World Sports. 4 January 2016.
  22. Web site: CHÍNH THỨC: VTV sở hữu bản quyền phát sóng VCK U23 châu Á 2016. vtv.vn. vi. 31 December 2015.
  23. Web site: VTV6 truyền hình trực tiếp các trận đấu của U23 Việt Nam tại VCK U23 châu Á. vtv.vn. vi. 5 January 2016.
  24. Web site: Final Registration Player List. AFC. 12 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170807204311/http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/afc/files/u23_final_registration_1501.pdf. 7 August 2017. dead.
  25. http://www.bbc.com/persian/sport/2016/01/160116_l93_mayeli_kohan Mayeli Kohan: Qatar used overage players

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