The 2012 AFC President's Cup was the eighth edition of the AFC President's Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "emerging countries" in Asia.
Teams from 11 member associations entered the competition.[2] Istiqlol became the second team from Tajikistan to win the AFC President's Cup, defeating Markaz Shabab Al-Am'ari from Palestine with a 2–1 win in the final.[3]
The following 12 associations were represented in the 2012 AFC President's Cup.[4]
Schedule of dates for 2012 competition.[8]
In the group stage, the twelve teams were divided into three groups of four teams each. Each group was played in a single round-robin format at a centralized venue. The top two teams from each group qualified for the final stage. The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order:[9]
On 2 March 2012, the AFC announced that the three hosts for the qualification round were Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodia), KRL (Pakistan), and Istiqlol (Tajikistan).[10] The draw for the group stage was held at the AFC house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 March 2012, 15:00 UTC+08:00.[11]
The final stage was played at a centralized venue, to be chosen from one of the final stage qualifiers. The six teams which qualified for the final stage were divided into two groups of three teams each, played in a single round-robin format. The winner from each group qualified for the single-match final to decide the title.[9]
Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodia), Istiqlol (Tajikistan) and Dordoi Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) showed interest to organise the finals.[15] On 18 July 2012, the AFC Competitions Committee decided to award the hosting rights of the finals to Tajikistan,[16] and the decision was approved by the AFC Executive Committee on 19 July 2012.[17] The draw for the finals was held in Dushanbe on 31 July 2012, 11:00 UTC+05:00.[18]
Assistant referees: Kim Sung-Il (Korea Republic) Abu Bakar Salim Mahad Al-Amri (Oman) Fourth official: Jumpei Iida (Japan)
Match rules[9]
Source:[19][20]