DOHA: The 7th Asian Communities Football Tournament (ACFT) is set to start this Thursday 10th January at Al Markhiya Sports Club. The hugely popular tournament – organized by Qatar Football Association (QFA) – is now into its seventh year and will see ten teams competing for the championship title. The 28-match tournament will commence with Japan taking on the Philippines at 8: 00 pm, followed by the second match in which Jordan will take on India at 9:30pm. The teams were divided into two groups of five. The first group includes Japan, the Philippines, defending champions Lebanon, Palestine and Bangladesh. The second group includes teams representing Jordan, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Each side will play four matches before the top two sides from each group qualify to the quarterfinals. The winners in the four quarterfinal fixtures will contest the semifinals. The tournament will begin on Thursday, January 10, and the group stage matches will continue until February 8, 2019, which will be held in five stages. The quarter-finals will be played on Thursday and Friday 14-15 February. There will be a match for the third place between the two losing teams in the semi-finals on Friday, with the winners of the same round of the championship in the final on Friday, March 1st. The matches will be held at the Doha Stadium and Al Markhiya Sports Club. The tournament remains hugely popular among the football loving communities living in Qatar, thanks to QFA’s outreach programs. The event is expected to draw huge crowds like it did in previous years, as the tournament has been a major success in all its previous versions with a steady increase to the number of teams participating in the annual tournament. after the first edition that saw the participation of 6 teams. Indonesia won the inaugural edition in 2013. The second edition saw the number of participating teams double to 12, Jordan emerged champions after defeating Indonesia 5-0 in the final. The following years Jordan, Indonesia, India and Lebanon communities won the event respectively. The Asian Communities Football Tournament was launched in sports season 2012-2013 and saw the participation of six teams. In its’ first edition, the tournament saw huge success and as a result, the following editions witnessed a steady increase in the number of participating teams as more communities expressed huge interest in being part of this exciting community tournament. The Asian Communities Football Tournament is sponsored by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy as the official strategic partner and Nike as the official supplier.