While the 2019-20 ISL season is in its early days with some teams having only played one match, Maziya look set to claim the Maldives title as the-AFC.com recaps the domestic action in South Asia.

Azamat Omuraliev’s 64th-minute strike proved decisive as Nematjan Zakirov’s side – who sit 20 points behind Dordoi in the Kyrgyz Premier League – won the national cup for the first time in their history,

While Neftchi’s win is set to give them a berth in the 2020 AFC Cup Preliminary Stage, Dordoi will now need to complete their bid for a second successive league title to join them on the Continental stage.

Both teams finished on 58 points but Chiangrai won the title on the head-to-head, having defeated Buriram 4-0 and drawn 0-0 in their two meetings this season.

Čeran scored the first half-opener and two more after the interval to guide Pakhtakor to a record-extending 12th Uzbekistan Cup and continue a stunning individual campaign, which has also produced 22 goals in 21 league appearances.

AGMK had been hoping to qualify for the Preliminary Stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League with victory in the match, but Mirdjalal Kasimov’s side were unable to repeat their 3-1 win from the 2018 decider.

Pakhtakor’s place in next year’s ACL has already been secured by virtue of their runaway Uzbekistan Super League title win.

The endorsement comes shortly after the AFC held a summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 14 and involved representatives of both the Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League as well as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and IMG-Reliance.

The roadmap for the reform process is for the club game in the country – with the ISL being recognised as the top league in India starting from this 2019-2020 season.

The ISL League winners would also be entitled to a play-off place in the AFC Champions League and the I-League champions would take a place in the AFC Cup in ‘a package that takes into consideration the recommendations of the FIFA/AFC report of 2017.’

At the second AFC Executive Committee meeting of the 2019-2023 cycle, chaired by longest-serving AFC Vice President and FIFA Council member, Saoud Al Mohannadi, in the absence of President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, it was decided to grow the two competitions.

From the 2021 season, the AFC Champions League will be expanded to 40 clubs with an extra group of four being added in both the East and West zones and further growing the reputation of one of the richest Continental club competitions in the world.

The tournament will be played between June and July 2021 and the final list of venues will be decided by FIFA and the Chinese FA.

The participation model to determine the clubs that qualify from each confederation will be finalised in a consultation process between FIFA and the six confederations.

Other key decisions

FIFA to invest USD 1 billion in women’s football over the course of the 2019-2022 cycle, as a result of an agreement on extra dedicated funding in the amount of USD 500 million. This amount will be taken from FIFA’s reserves as an addition to the USD 500 million already approved by the FIFA Congress to be invested in women’s football as per the budget of the current four-year cycle.

Overview of the bidding timeline for the FIFA World Cup 2030™, according to which the process is set to be launched in the second quarter of 2022 and the selection of the host(s) is scheduled to take place at the 74th FIFA Congress in 2024.

Appointment of hosts of future FIFA competitions:

Indonesia as the host of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2021™

Peru as the host of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2021™

Russia as the host of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2021™

Appointment of Tokyo as the host of the 71st FIFA Congress in May 2021.

Endorsement of the “second reform package”, delivered by the Task Force Transfer System and agreed to by the Football Stakeholders Committee, which regulates the representation and remuneration of agents; the loan mechanisms; and the training reward regime. The FIFA Council also endorsed the continuation of the Task Force’s work on further topics as per its work plan, including fiscal regulation, minors, squad sizes and transfer windows.

Endorsement of the amendments to the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, as proposed by the Players’ Status Committee, the key aspect of which is the application of the solidarity mechanism to national transfers with an international dimension, as well as the established jurisprudence regarding minors, such as unaccompanied refugees and exchange students.

The members of the FIFA Council also received an update from CAF President Ahmad Ahmad and from FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura on the progress made within CAF since Ms Samoura’s appointment as the FIFA General Delegate for Africa, on 1 August 2019.

Meeting no. 12 of the FIFA Council is scheduled for 12-13 March in Asuncion, Paraguay.