Qatar Football AssociationCSR
28.02.2019 8:20 in :

Doha: The final of the 7th Asian Communities Football Tournament (ACFT) is set to take place this Friday 1 March 2019 and will see the Jordanian and Indian community football teams battle it out on the field to win the tournament title.

Organised by the Qatar Football Association (QFA)’s Sub-Leagues Committee, this year’s edition is sponsored by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), official strategic partner, Nike, official supplier, The Look Company, official branding partner and Al Kass Sports Channels, official broadcaster.

The final match will kick-off at 7pm at Al Arabi Stadium and will be preceded by the third and fourth place playoff which sees Lebanon take on Indonesia at 5pm.

Both teams qualified for the final after Jordan beat Indonesia 2-0 in the semi-final. India won against defending champions, Lebanon in the semifinals as the match ended in a goalless draw with India winning the tight contest at the penalty shootout 3-0.

Jordan had qualified to the semi-finals stage after Japan withdrew from the competition.

This year’s tournament featured the participation of ten Asian teams from across Qatar, that were divided into two groups of five. Group A included Japan, Philippines, Lebanon (last year’s champions), Palestine and Bangladesh, while Group B included Jordan, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

The tournament this year witnessed large spectator turnout due to its growing competitive nature over the years, and the final match is expected to see hundreds of fans attend to cheer for their community football team.

Organising the ACFT highlights the QFA constant goal to organise community competitions to instill a culture of football amongst the different communities residing in Qatar. The QFA has previously organised and provided support to many community football tournaments including the Indian community, Indian schools in Qatar and many others.

The first edition of the ACFT was launched in 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 an increase in the number of participating teams as more communities expressed huge interest in being part of this exciting community tournament.