Abu Dhabi: With the AFC Asian Cup fever gripping the whole of the UAE, fans will get to enjoy an additional day of action on the field as hundreds of amateurs compete in the final of the Asian Community Cup.
Teams answered the call to represent their countries at the end of 2018, as the popular tournament now reaches its climax this weekend at Zayed Sports City, where one team will be crowned community champions of Asia.
Narrowed down from over 70 teams, the final 24 sides will battle it out in Abu Dhabi to win the seven-a-side tournament, which will see the winners receive special privileged access to the highly-anticipated AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 final on February 1.
Countries represented in the Asian Community Cup include hosts UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, India, Philippines, Japan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Korea Republic, Kyrgyz Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran, with families, friends and fellow supporters all encouraged to get behind their teams with free entry to the tournament, which kicks-off at 2.00pm, Friday, January 18.
The final day of the tournament, which kicked-off in October, will take the same format as the AFC Asian Cup, with each team competing in the group stage, before the winning sides progress to the knockout stages in matches which last 25 minutes.
The tournament falls on the first official ‘rest day’ of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, after all 24 nations have played their three group stage matches, before the Round of 16 gets underway on Sunday, January 20.
Source: the-afc.com