JUBILANT: HCM City 1 players will present Việt Nam at the AFC Women’s Champions League which will be held for the first time this year. Photo of VFF

HÀ NỘI Việt Nam will host a group stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League, which will be staged in August and when huge bonuses will be given away.

The continental football governing body recently confirmed that as many as 22 clubs will take part in qualification of the tournament's inaugural season, heralding a new era of success and progress for women’s football in Asia.

Clubs from the top eight member associations, as ranked according to FIFA, will qualify directly into the group stage, which comprises three groups of four teams to be contested in a centralised league format from October 6 to 12.

The remaining 14 clubs will have to make it through the preliminary stage that features four groups – two groups of four teams and two groups of three - to be played in a centralised league format between August 25 and 31, with the four group winners qualifying.

Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand will host one group each in the preliminary stages, while China and Việt Nam will be hosting one group each in the group stage. The third remaining host for the group stage will be identified after a draw and confirmed prior to the commencement of the group stage.

National reigning champions HCM City 1 will be Vietnamese representative in this competition.

The official draw ceremonies for both the preliminary and group stages will be conducted on July 18 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The dynamic format in line with the AFC drive to keep women's football flourishing, will feature the top two finishers of each group and the two best third-placed sides progress to the quarter-finals in March 2025.

A knockout stage draw will be conducted prior to the quarter-finals to determine the four pairings, which will be contested in a single-leg format, with the higher-ranked team of each tie to serve as the home side.

This will be followed by a centralised finals, which will see the semi-finals and final, being played in single-leg ties, from May 21 to 24.

Along with the thrilling showcase of top-class women’s clubs, the organisers will deliver an attractive prize purse.

Every participating club in the group stage will receive a minimum of US$100,000 each, with additional monies available depending on their eventual placings. It means that the first-ever champions of the prestigious tournament can expect to be rewarded with at least $1.3 million. VNS