The Myanmar club Shan United will have the opportunity to compete in the 2024-2025 AFC Challenge League Championship, which the Asian Football Confederation-AFC will organize.
The AFC will hold three more tournaments starting next season, and Myanmar clubs will only be allowed to compete in the third-ranked AFC Challenge League. Next season, the football confederation will host the AFC Champion League Elite competition at level 1, the AFC Champions League Two at level 2 and the AFC Challenge League at level 3.
The AFC Challenge League will be divided into the East Asia Zone and the West Asia Zone, and Myanmar club Shan United will compete in the East Asia Zone.
Myanmar club Shan United is placed in the East Asia zone with Indonesian club Madura United, Cambodia club PKR Svay Rieng, Chinese Taipei club Taiwan Steel, Lao club Young Elephants and Mongolian club SP Falcons.
The East Asia zone will be divided into two groups of three teams, and according to the format of the tourney, the West Asia zone will have three groups and the East Asia zone two groups.
The top team from each group and the best three runners-up from each group will advance to the quarterfinals, making a total of eight teams.
The group matches will be held in one round only, and the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played for two rounds with the home and away system. In turn, the final will be held in one round.
The group matches will launch from 26 October to 2 November, while the quarterfinal will be played in March 2025, and the semifinals will start in April 2025. The final match will be played in May 2025. The lot-drawing event for the tourney will kick-start on 22 August 2024.
Shan United will compete in the AFC Challenge League, which the Asian Football Confederation will hold, and the ASEAN Club Championship, organized by the ASEAN Football Federation. — Ko Nyi Lay/KZL
