Central Asian Football Association
CAFA Logo.png
CAFF member associations map.png
AbbreviationCAFA
Formation9 January 2015; 7 years ago (2015-01-09)
TypeSports organization
HeadquartersDushanbe, Tajikistan
Membership
6 member associations
President
Tajikistan Rustam Emomali
Vice president
Kyrgyzstan Dastanbek Konokbaev
General secretary
Tajikistan Ulugbek Karimov
Websitewww.the-cafa.com

The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)[1] is an association of the football playing nations in Central Asia.

In June 2014, the association was in principle approved by the Asian Football Confederation and approved at the Extraordinary Congress in January 2015 during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.[2][3] As a result, CAFA will in the future be able to have member(s) on the AFC executive committee.

The formation of CAFA was spearheaded by the Iranian Football Federation following disputes with West Asian Football Federation members. It was reported that AFC President Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa gained politically from the creation of the new zone.[4]

History

Members of the six nations met with AFC president Sheikh Salman on 10 May 2014 to talk about the possibility of creating a new Asian football zone. The delegations were invited by the AFC president following an initiative by Iran and Afghanistan.[5] At the extraordinary AFC congress on 9 June 2014 in São Paulo, the plan of the new zone was ratified by the congress.[6][7]

Executive committee

Position Name Years active
President Tajikistan Rustam Emomali 2019–present
Vice-president Kyrgyzstan Dastanbek Konokbaev 2019–present
Second Vice-president Turkmenistan Arslan Aynazarov 2019–present
General Secretary Tajikistan Ulugbek Karimov 2019–present

Presidents

President Years
Uzbekistan Mirabror Usmanov 2015–2018
Uzbekistan Umid Ahmadjonov 2018–2019
Tajikistan Rustam Emomali 2019–present

Vice-presidents

Vice-president Years
Tajikistan Rustam Emomali 2015–2018
Tajikistan Khurshed Mirzo 2018–2019
Kyrgyzstan Dastanbek Konokbaev 2019–present

General Secretaries

General Secretary Years
Uzbekistan Avazbek Maksumov 2015–2017
Uzbekistan Sanjar Rizayev 2018–2019
Tajikistan Ulugbek Karimov 2019–present

AFC Vice-Presidents for Central Zone

General Secretary Years
Iran Ali Kafashian 2015–2016
Iran Mehdi Taj 2016-present

Member associations

CAFA consists of six member associations. All of them are members of the Asian Football Confederation.

Code Association National Football teams National Futsal teams National Beach
Soccer teams		 Founded FIFA
affiliation		 AFC
affiliation		 CAFA
affiliation		 IOC
member		 Former federation
AFG Afghanistan Afghanistan Men's (U21·U19·U17) Women's Men's Men's 1933 1948 1954 2015 Yes SAFF (2005–2014)
IRN Iran Iran Men's (U21·U19·U17) Women's (U19·U17) Men's (U-20) Women's Men's 1920 1948 1954 2015 Yes WAFF (2001–2014)
KGZ Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Men's (U21·U17) Women's Men's – 1946 1994 1994 2015 Yes
TJK Tajikistan Tajikistan Men's (U21·U17) Women's Men's – 1936 1994 1994 2015 Yes
TKM Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Men's (U21·U17) Women's Men's – 1992 1994 1994 2015 Yes
UZB Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Men's (U21·U19·U17) Women's (U19) Men's Women's Men's 1946 1994 1994 2015 Yes
Association National Football Leagues League Champion National Football Cups Cup Champion Super Cups Super Cup Champion
 Afghanistan Afghan Premier League Shaheen Asmayee – – – –
– – – – – –
 Iran Persian Gulf Pro League Persepolis Hazfi Cup Foolad Iranian Super Cup Foolad
Kowsar Women Football league Shahrdari Sirjan Women's Hazfi Cup – – –
 Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Top League Dordoi Kyrgyzstan Cup Neftchi Kochkor-Ata Kyrgyzstan Super Cup Dordoi
Kyrgyzstan Women's Championship – – – – –
 Tajikistan Tajikistan Higher League Istiklol Tajikistan Cup Khujand Tajikistan Super Cup Istiklol
– – – – – –
 Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Higher League Altyn Asyr Turkmenistan Cup Şagadam Turkmenistan Super Cup Altyn Asyr
– – – – – –
 Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Super League Pakhtakor Uzbekistan Cup Nasaf Uzbekistan Super Cup Pakhtakor
Uzbek women's football championship Sogdiana Uzbek women's Cup Bunyodkor Tashkent Uzbek women's Super Cup Bunyodkor Tashkent

Competitions

See also: List of association football competitions and FIFA International Match Calendar

Current title holders

See also: Portal:Current events/Sports, 2022 in association football, 2022 in sports, and FIFA International Match Calendar

For events postponed or cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, see Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.

CAFA runs several competitions which cover men's, women's, youth and futsal.[8][9]

Competition Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition Dates
National teams
Men's Championship TBD N/A – N/A TBD
U-23 Championship TBD N/A – N/A TBD
U-18 Championship 2019  Iran 1st Tajikistan Tajikistan 2021
U-16 Championship 2019  Tajikistan 1st  Uzbekistan 2022 13–21 May 2022
U-15 Championship 2021  Iran 1st  Tajikistan TBD
CAFA Futsal Championship TBD N/A – N/A TBD
CAFA U-19 Futsal Championship 2022 Iran Iran 1st Afghanistan Afghanistan TBD
National teams (women)
Women's Championship 2018  Uzbekistan 1st  Iran TBD
U-23 Women's Championship 2019  Uzbekistan 1st  Iran TBD
U-19 Women's Championship 2021  Uzbekistan 2nd  Iran 2022
U-17 Girls Championship 2021 Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 1st  Iran TBD
U-15 Girls Championship 2019  Iran 1st Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan TBD
CAFA Women's Futsal Championship 2022  Iran 1st  Uzbekistan TBD
CAFA U-19 Women's Futsal Championship 2020  Iran 1st Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 2022

Rankings

See also

References

  1. ^ "اتحادیه فوتبال آسیای مرکزی ایجاد شد" (in Persian). BBC. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  2. ^ "'Central Zone' gets thumbs up from Tajikistan". The AFC. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. ^ "AFC adds a fifth zone as Extraordinary Congress approves amendments to AFC Statutes". The AFC. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  4. ^ Warshaw, Andrew (10 June 2014). "Shaikh Salman flexes his political muscle to brush aside Prince Ali". InsideWorldFootball.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Central Asians meet Sheikh Salman to create CAFA". aff.org.af. 17 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  6. ^ "Sheikh Salman Wins Bitter Battle to End Prince Ali's FIFA Vice-Presidency" (10 June 2014). worldfootballinsider.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  7. ^ "AFC president to resume FIFA Vice Presidency". goal.com. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  8. ^ "ABOUT CAFA". October 6, 2014.
  9. ^ "COMPETITIONS". March 9, 2018.
  10. ^ https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men?dateId=id13407%7Cdate=16 September 2021
  11. ^ "Women's Ranking". Fifa.com.

External links

International association football
National men's football teams of Asia (AFC)
CAFA competitions
Categories