AFF Suzuki Cup prepares for blast off

The highly anticipated Official Draw for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, Southeast Asia’s biggest football tournament, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, will take place on Tuesday, 2 August in Yangon, organisers confirmed today.

Myanmar and the Philippines, co-hosts for the group stages from November 19 to 26, will be joined in the hat by defending champions Thailand, fellow four-time winners Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The Official Draw for the qualification round in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from October 15 - 21 will also be held on 2 August. One team from Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Laos and Timor-Leste will join the seeded sides in the AFF Suzuki Cup Group Stages.

First played in 1996, the biennial AFF Suzuki Cup that crowns the kings of ASEAN football, stirs the passions of patriotic fans throughout the region who closely follow the action at the stadia and on television.

Raucous, flag-waving crowds are a feature of the tournament, which dominates conversations at home, in the office place and on social networking sites.

With Myanmar and the Philippines newcomers to hosting the Group Stage tournament, the Youth Training Centre in Yangon and the Philippine Sports Stadium, will be staging their first games in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016. Both venues have previously held international matches.

Wunna Theikdi Stadium in Nay Pyi Taw and the Rizal Memorial Stadium in the heart of Manila, which has played host to AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final matches in 2012 and 2014, will each host one simultaneous match in the group stages.

The venues for the Qualification round tournament will be the Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium and RSN Stadium. The last match day will kick-off simultaneously.

The semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup will be held on December 3/4 (first legs) and December 7/8 (second legs), with the home and away final on December 14 and December 17.


http://www.affsuzukicup.com/news/aff-suzuki-cup-prepares-for-blast-off