What is AFF Cup? How often is the AFF Suzuki Cup held each year?

Football is the king sport that many countries participate in to compete in various tournaments of different scales. In the Southeast Asian region, the AFF Cup tournament is held every 2 years to create a playground for countries to compete against each other. This event always receives a lot of attention from fans whenever it takes place. Let’s find out more specifically about what the AFF Cup tournament is and how often it is held with Wintips.

Learn about AFF Cup?

AFF stands for ASEAN Football Federation. In Vietnamese, it is translated as Liên đoàn bóng đá Đông Nam Á or also known as the ASEAN Football Federation.

In English, AFF Cup is called AFF Championship, also known as the ASEAN Football Championship. This is the championship tournament of the Southeast Asian region organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).

How often is the AFF Cup held?

If you’re not an avid football follower, you may not know how often the AFF Cup is held. According to the regulations of the ASEAN Football Federation, the AFF Cup is held every 2 years. A total of 11 teams from 11 countries in the region participate in the tournament. Among them, 10 teams with the best performance will be directly qualified to the group stage, while the remaining two teams will play a two-legged qualifying round to determine the final team to join the tournament.

The 11 teams are: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.

The 10 teams qualified for the final stage will be divided into two groups of 5 teams, playing in a round-robin format with each team playing two home and two away matches. The draw ceremony is held to determine the seedings, and the format of the knockout stage remains unchanged.

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History of the AFF Cup

According to experts’ research, the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship was first organized in 1996 in Singapore. The first champion was the Thai national team. The tournament was sponsored by Singapore’s Asia Pacific Breweries (Tiger Beer brand) and was called the Tiger Cup, with 10 teams participating.

Tiger Cup was the name used until 2004 – the 5th tournament. After the main sponsor, Tiger Beer, withdrew, the ASEAN Football Federation had a hard time finding a sponsor for the tournament. Therefore, the tournament was postponed for one year, and then it was renamed the AFF Cup and has been used until now.

At the 6th tournament (in 2007), it was called the AFF Championship. The 7th tournament (in 2008) was called the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008, named and sponsored by the Japanese automaker Suzuki. From then on, the tournament was named AFF Suzuki Cup for sponsor reasons. Later tournaments have taken the name from the 7th tournament but differ only in the number of years of organization.

As of now, after 12 editions of the tournament, four teams have won the championship, including Thailand with five titles, Singapore with four, Vietnam with two, and Malaysia with one. The most recent championship was in 2018, when Vietnam won its second championship in ten years (since their first championship in 2008) by defeating Malaysia with a total score of 3-2 in the two-legged final.

What is the prize money for the winner of the AFF Cup?

The Southeast Asian Football Federation has announced the prize money for the winner, runner-up, and third and fourth-placed teams of the 2020 AFF Cup. The champion will receive a prize of $300,000 (about 7 billion VND), which is three times the amount given to the second-placed team, who will receive $100,000. The third and fourth-placed teams will each receive $50,000.

In 2018, the Vietnamese national team received a total of 22.7 billion VND in prize money for winning the AFF Cup, including rewards from the federation, government, and corporate sponsors. The prize money will be divided among the coaching staff and players according to their contributions during the tournament.

Conclude

In conclusion, the above are basic information about the AFF Cup, including its frequency and prize money. Stay updated with the latest football news at Wintips.com to not miss the most exciting matches. Enjoy your daily entertainment with football!

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