The 2017 AFC Cup qualifying play-offs were played from 30 January to 28 February 2017.[1] A total of 14 teams competed in the qualifying play-offs to decide five of the 34 places in the group stage of the 2017 AFC Cup.[2]
Teams
The following 14 teams, split into five zones (West Asia Zone, Central Asia Zone, South Asia Zone, ASEAN Zone, East Asia Zone), entered the qualifying play-offs, consisting of two rounds:[3][4][5]
8 teams entered in the preliminary round.
6 teams entered in the play-off round.
Originally 17 teams entered the qualifying play-offs (10 entered in the preliminary round, 7 entered in the play-off round) before the withdrawal of teams in the East Asia Zone.
In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals would not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.3). The five winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 29 direct entrants.[2]
Schedule
The schedule of each round was as follows (W: West Asia Zone; C: Central Asia Zone; S: South Asia Zone; A: ASEAN Zone).[1]
Round
W, A
C, S
First leg
Second leg
First leg
Second leg
Preliminary round
Not played
31 January 2017
7 February 2017
Play-off round
30–31 January 2017
6–7 February 2017
21 February 2017
28 February 2017
Bracket
The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each zone was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association in the ASEAN Zone could not be placed into the same play-off.[4]
The East Asia Zone qualifying play-offs were not played due to the withdrawal of teams.
Kigwancha advanced directly to Group I after Rovers (Guam) withdrew from the group stage.
Erchim advanced directly to Group I after Taipower and Tatung (both Chinese Taipei) withdrew from the group stage and qualifying play-offs respectively.
Preliminary round
A total of 8 teams played in the preliminary round.
^ abcRovers (Guam) and Taipower (Chinese Taipei) withdrew from the group stage after the draw, and Tatung (Chinese Taipei) withdrew from the qualifying play-offs,[6] and thus Kigwancha (North Korea) and Erchim (Mongolia) advanced directly from the play-off round and preliminary round respectively to the group stage to replace them, and only three teams competed in the East Asia Zone group stage, and the East Asia Zone qualifying play-offs were not played.
^Teams from Afghanistan were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security reasons.[7]
