The 2022 AFF Championship (officially AFF

Mitsubishi Electric is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1921 as a spin-off from the electrical machinery manufacturing d ...

Cup 2022 due to sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the

AFF Championship The ASEAN Championship (formerly known as the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the ASEAN Hyundai Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the biennial football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for men's natio ...

, the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

championship of nations affiliated to the

ASEAN Football Federation The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) is an organisation within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is an international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer in Southeast Asia. It consists of the federations of Fo ...

(AFF) and was the 1st edition under the name AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup. The tournament will return to its usual two-year cycle, after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

that occurred in all

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

countries. The final tournament ran from 20 December 2022 to 16 January 2023.

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

were the defending champions, and won the tournament by a 3–2 aggregate score in the two-legged final against its rivals,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

to secure their seventh title. Alexandré Pölking, became the 4th coach to win multiple titles, the first being on the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

edition.

Format

The AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 followed the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

format, a change from the

format with a centralised venue due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia. In the current format, the nine highest-ranked teams automatically qualified with the 10th and 11th ranked teams playing in a two-legged qualifier. The 10 teams were split in two groups of five and play a round-robin system, with each team playing two home and two away fixtures.

Away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

was applied after 90 minutes, but not in extra-time. A draw was made to determine where the teams play while the format of the knockout round remained unchanged.

Qualification

Nine teams automatically qualified to the AFF Championship final tournament; they were separated into their respective pots based on their performance in the last two editions.

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

and

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, the two lowest-ranked teams, played a two-legged tie to determine the 10th and final qualifier in November 2022, with Brunei hosting both legs due to Timor-Leste lacking a FIFA-standard venue. Brunei secured qualification, and their second appearance in the tournament after 26 years, by defeating Timor-Leste 6–3 on aggregrate, thus ensuring all 10

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

members have their respective teams in the competition.

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, a member since 2013, did not enter the tournament.

Draw

The draw for the 2022 AFF Championship was held on 30 August 2022 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

at 14:00 ( GMT+07:00). The pot placements followed each teams' progress based on the two previous editions. If the results are equal, the most recent tournament will be given priority. At the time of the draw, the identity of the team that secured qualification was unknown and was automatically placed into Pot 5.

qualified for the final tournament by defeating

Squads

Each team were allowed a preliminary squad of 50 players. A final squad of 23 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) needed to be registered.

Officials

The following officials were chosen for the competition. Referees * Chen Hsin-chuan * Tam Ping Wun * Yusuke Araki * Jumpei Iida * Hiroki Kasahara * Ryuji Sato * Yudai Yamamoto * Adham Makhadmeh * Ahmed Faisal Al Ali * Omar Al-Yaqoubi * Mohammed Al Hoaish * Majed Al-Shamrani * Choi Hyun-jai * Kim Dae-yong * Kim Hee-gon * Kim Jong-hyeok * Ko Hyung-jin - Final (Second leg) Thailand - Vietnam * Omar Mohamed Al Ali * Aziz Asimov Assistant referees * Mohammad Faisal Ali * Chen Hsiao-en * So Kai Man * Nurhadi Sulchan * Bambang Syamsudar * Yusuke Hamamoto * Jun Mihara * Isao Nishihashi * Takumi Takagi * Yosuke Takebe * Kota Watanabe * Hamza Adel Abu Obaid * Mohammad Al Kalaf * Ahmad Al Roalleh * Ahmad Mansour Samara Muhsen * Bang Ki-yeol * Jang Jong-pil * Kang Dong-ho * Kwak Seung-soon * Park Kyun-yong * Park Sang-jun * Song Bong-keun * Omar Ali Al Jamal * Faisal Nasser Al Qahtani * Abdulrahim Al Shammari * Khalaf Zaid Al Shammari * Fahad Awaiedh Al Umri * Kilar Ladsavong * Mohd Arif Shamil Abdul Rasid * Hamed Talib Al Ghafri * Faisal Eid Alshammari * Juma Al Burshaid * Yousuf Al Shamari * Ronnie Koh Min Kiat * Apichit Nophuan * Tanate Chuchuen * Supawan Hinthong * Pattarapong Kijsathit * Jasem Abdulla Al Ali * Timur Gaynullin * Nguyễn Trung Hậu Fourth officials * Abdul Hakim Mohd Haidi * Chy Samdy * Thoriq Alkatiri * Xaypaseuth Phongsanit * Souei Vongkham * Yassin Tuan Mohd Hanafiah * Muhammad Usaid Jamal * Muhammad Nazmi Nasaruddin * Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob * Kyaw Zwall Lwin * Clifford Daypuyat * Songkran Bunmeekiart * Pansa Chaisanit * Mongkolchai Pechsri * Sivakorn Pu-Udom * Warintorn Sassadee * Torphong Somsing * Ahmad A'Qashah * Muhammad Taqi Al Jaafari * Ngô Duy Lân

Venues

There was one venue for each participating nation in the tournament, with each nation getting two group matches played in their home stadium. Brunei played their home matches at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Stadium due to their own stadium did not met the standards.

Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (; literal translation, literally "Bung Karno Sports Arena Main Stadium"), formerly Senayan Main Stadium and Gelora Senayan Main Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located at the center of the Gelora Bung Karno Spor ...

were attended by spectators with a capacity of 70 percent of the total number of seats, which was around 50,000 seats. The decision for a maximum attendance capacity of 70 percent were based on the risk assessment and trials for further implementation.

Group stage

;Tiebreakers Ranking in each group shall be determined as follows: # Greater number of points obtained in all the group matches; # Goal difference in all the group matches; # Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches. If two or more teams are equal on the basis on the above three criteria, the place shall be determined as follows: # Result of the direct match between the teams concerned; #

Penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

if only the teams are tied, and they met in the last round of the group; # Drawing lots by the Organising Committee.

Group A

---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

---- ---- ---- ----

Knockout stage

Bracket

Semi-finals

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''

won 2–0 on aggregate.'' ''

won 3–1 on aggregate.''

Final

;First leg ---- ;Second leg ''

won 3–2 on aggregate.''

Statistics

Winner

Awards

Goalscorers

Discipline

In the tournament, a player will be suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. On 3 January 2023, AFF confirmed that Azam Azmi would be suspended for two matches, and would be absent against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and the semi-finals first leg against

Tournament teams ranking

This table will show the ranking of teams throughout the tournament.

2022 AFF Championship All-Star XI

Marketing

Matchballs

The official ball for the 2022 edition is called BERSATU, which is sponsored by Warrix Sports. This is the second edition that Warrix has been designated as the ''Official Match Ball and Sports Apparel Supplier'' of the Championship.

Sponsorship

* Source:

Media coverage

Incidents and controversies

The Group B match between

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

was marred by controversy, when Japanese referee Ryuji Sato who officiated the match gave a sudden controversial decision to award a penalty to Vietnam following a clash between Malaysian Azam Azmi and Vietnamese

Đoàn Văn Hậu Đoàn Văn Hậu (born 19 April 1999) is a Vietnamese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back or centre back for V.League 1 club Hanoi Police FC, Công An Hà Nội and th ...

outside the penalty box which saw Azam being sent off, although a similar foul made by Văn Hậu towards Azam was ignored by the same referee. A complaint was made by the

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (commonly abbreviated as FAM; ) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia, headquartered at Wisma FAM. The FAM is also one of the founding members of both the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) a ...

(FAM) towards the

(AFF) regarding the "perceived biasedness of Sato's officiating conduct" since a similar incident had also occurred before in another Malaysia-Vietnam encounter during

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

held in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. Through the letter, FAM requested for Sato to never be refereeing any matches involving Malaysia in the future. Nevertheless, earlier before the controversial decision was made, Sato announced that 2022 would be the last year of his refereeing career when he announced his retirement by the end of the year. On 3 January 2023, AFF responded to FAM's letter by giving Azam a two-match ban, where he would miss Malaysia's last group stage match against

and the semi-final first leg against

. Azam also needed to pay a fine of US$1,000 that had to be settled in 30 days. The decisions were not appealable. Before the Group A match between

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

, a bus that transported the Thai team was disturbed and halted by Indonesian hooligans, which resulted in the bus needing to be escorted and the

heavily guarded by the

Indonesian National Armed Forces The Indonesian National Armed Forces (; abbreviated as TNI) are the military forces of the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of the Indonesian Army, Army (''TNI-AD''), Indonesian Navy, Navy (''TNI-AL''), and Indonesian Air Force, Air Force ('' ...

(TNI), Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), firefighters and medical workers. During the match, home fans snatched a Thai flag, stepped and sat on it. Following the incidents, the

Football Association of Thailand The Football Association of Thailand, under the Patronage of His Majesty the King (), or FA Thailand (FAT) for short, is the governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer in Thailand. It was founded on 25 April 1916. The associ ...

(FAT) sent an official complaint to AFF with the

Football Association of Indonesia The Football Association of Indonesia (; 'All-Indonesian Football Association'; abbreviated as PSSI) is the governing body of Football soccer, football in Indonesia. It was founded on 19 April 1930. The PSSI joined FIFA in 1952 and the Asian F ...

(PSSI) expressing their apology and urging leaders and liaisons for supporters to further ensure that further incidents were prevented. FIFA later asked Indonesia to tighten their security for their upcoming match against Vietnam. The attendance seats for the upcoming 1st leg semi-final match between Malaysia and Thailand in

Bukit Jalil national stadium The Bukit Jalil National Stadium (Malay language, Malay: ''Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil'', Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With a capacity of 87,500, it is the largest stadium in Southea ...

was only available for 59,000 seats, where 21,000 seats had to be vacant due to a world tour concert by

Jay Chou Jay Chou Chieh-lun ( zh, s=周杰伦, t=周杰倫, first=t, p=Zhōu Jiélún; born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, director, and businessman. Regarded as one of the most influential artists in the Chinese-speaking worl ...

on which the singer also held a concert at

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

earlier, which forced Singapore to use

Jalan Besar Stadium Jalan Besar Stadium, officially the Jalan Besar ActiveSG Stadium, is a football stadium located in Kallang, Singapore. The stadium is part of the Jalan Besar Sports and Recreation Centre, a community sports facility that includes the stadium as ...

instead. Originally due to be held on 3 January 2023, which fell on the same matchday between Malaysia and Singapore, however it got postponed to 15 January 2023. The Malaysian government and FAM hardly tried to make negotiations and appeals, however a decision was not applied. This stirred some Malaysian football fans to throw hate to the singer's social media account instead. On 7 January 2023, Chou finally stated that he could delay the concert, with a permission from FAM. To relief the disappointments among many of the football fans who were unable to attend due to limited spots in the stadium caused by the issues, the Malaysian government in collaboration with local authorities erected 14 big screens in chosen locations nationwide. Earlier before the 1st leg match between Malaysia and Thailand in Kuala Lumpur, the

Royal Malaysia Police The Royal Malaysia Police (often abbreviated RMP) (; Jawi script, Jawi: ), is a (primarily) uniformed national and federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation, and its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman, Kuala ...

(PDRM) announced that a security measure which included body checks as well as bags and items checks would be carried out at each entrance and after entering the stadium grounds. The police released a list of prohibited items that were not allowed to be brought into the stadium such as

firecracker A firecracker (cracker, noise maker, banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang, usually for celebration or entertainment; any visual effect is incidental to ...

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

flares A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

s, laser pens, sharp objects and

alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s. This included

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

s or

walking stick A walking stick (also known as a walking cane, cane, walking staff, or staff) is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture. Some designs also serve as a fashion acces ...

s, powerbanks, water bottles,

lighter A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typic ...

s and

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s (including

electronic cigarette An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), or vape, is a device that simulates smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such ...

s). Despite this preventive measures, as seen during the match, some Malaysian fans were still able to smuggle prohibited items into the stadium when some of them were seen pointing green laser lights towards Thai defender

Pansa Hemviboon Pansa Hemviboon (, born 8 July 1990) is a Thai professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre back for Thai League 1 club Buriram United F.C., Buriram United and the Thailand natio ...

as well as towards the left side face of referee of the match Kim Dae-yong, especially after the second goal of Malaysia from their centre-back player Dominic Tan was disallowed by the referee due to collision with the Thai player.

Notes

References

External links

* of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup * of the ASEAN Football Federation {{AFF Championship ASEAN Championship tournaments 1 1 2022 in Brunei football 2022 in Burmese football 2022 in Cambodian football

2022 in Laotian football 2022 in Malaysian football 2022 in Philippine football 2022 in Thai football 2022 in Singaporean football 2022 in Vietnamese football AFF AFF 2023 in Thai football