2008 AFC President's Cup

2008 AFC President's Cup
Tournament details
Host country	Kyrgyzstan
Dates	12 April - 26 June (group stage); 19-21 September (final stage)
Teams	4 (final stage); 11 (total) (from 11 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Regar-TadAZ (2nd title)
Runners-up	Dordoi-Dynamo Naryn
Tournament statistics
Matches played	18
Goals scored	75 (4.17 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Thi Ha Kyaw (6 goals)
	← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 AFC President's Cup was the fourth edition of the AFC President's Cup, a competition for football clubs in countries categorized as "emerging nations" by the Asian Football Confederation. For this edition, the tournament was extended from eight to eleven teams, with three groups in place of the previous two. The three new teams came from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Turkmenistan. The eleven teams that competed were split up into three groups and played each other team in their group once. The winner of each group and the best runner-up qualified for the semifinals, and the winners of the semifinal matches played in the final match to determine the winner.

Each group was to be played over a period of days in April at one venue - Group A at Dashrath Stadium, Nepal, Group B at Chungshan Stadium, Taiwan and Group C at Sugathadasa Stadium, Sri Lanka. However, due to political unrest in Nepal, Group A matches were postponed and eventually played at MPPJ Stadium, Malaysia in June.^[1]

The final stage of the competition was played in Kyrgyzstan from 19–21 September.^[2]

Venues

Group stage

Kuala Lumpur	Taipei	Colombo
MPPJ Stadium	Changchun Soccer Stadium	Sugathadasa Stadium
Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 25,000

Final stage

Bishkek
Spartak Stadium
Capacity: 23,000

Qualifying teams

Association	Team	Qualifying method	App	Last App
Bangladesh	Abahani Ltd.	2007 B.League champions	1st
Bhutan	Transport United	2007 A-Division champions	4th	2007
Cambodia	Nagacorp FC	2007 Cambodian League champions	1st
Chinese Taipei	Taipower	2007 Enterprise Football League champions	2nd	2005
Kyrgyzstan	Dordoi-Dynamo	2007 Kyrgyzstan League champions	4th	2007
Myanmar	Kanbawza	2007 Myanmar Premier League champions	1st
Nepal	Nepal Police Club¹	2006–07 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League champions²	2nd	2007
Pakistan	WAPDA³	2007–08 Pakistan Premier League champions	2nd	2005
Sri Lanka	Ratnam SC	2007 Kit Premier League champions	3rd	2007
Tajikistan	Regar-TadAZ	2007 Tajik League champions	3rd	2007
Turkmenistan	FC Aşgabat	2007 Turkmenistan League champions	1st

¹ Mehandra Police Club now known as Nepal Police Club.
² No league held in 2007–08 so 2006–07 champions qualify.
³ Pakistan Army F.C. were originally Pakistan's entrants, but replaced by WAPDA for rearranged group stage.

Group stage

Group A

All matches played at MPPJ Stadium, Kuala Lumpur

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Regar-TadAZ	3	2	1	0	6	4	+2	7
2	Nepal Police Club	3	1	2	0	7	3	+4	5
3	Abahani Ltd.	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4	3
4	WAPDA	3	0	1	2	2	4	−2	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

22 June 2008

16:00

Nepal Police Club	4–0	Abahani Ltd.
Thapa 15' Rai 18' 56' 70' (pen)	Report

MPPJ Stadium, Malaysia

Attendance: 100

Referee: Abdulrahman Racho (Syria)

22 June 2008