Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced that the FFA Cup will return to the national football calendar in 2021 with some key adjustments intended to improve and enhance the excitement associated with Australia’s largest annual club-based sporting competition.

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FFA CUP 2021 – KEY FEATURES:

Indian clubs are set to get an additional slot in AFC competitions in 2021, possibly with a direct entry into the AFC Champions League (ACL) group stages. It would be the first time an Indian team would feature in Asia's elite club competition in more than 30 years - Goa-based Salgaocar were the last team to feature in group games of the.

• FFA Cup Semi-Finals & Final earmarked to be on stand-alone weekends for the first time. Final to be played at neutral venue.
• FFA Cup Final Rounds will feature an open draw for the first time – generating more competitive tension and uncertainty.
• FFA Cup 2021 winner to be awarded a preliminary round slot representing Australia in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League*.
• FFA Cup Final Rounds Slot Allocation for A-League clubs and Member Federations to remain unchanged.
• FFA Cup Final Rounds Play-Off matches between the bottom four (4) placed A-League clubs from the A-League 2020/21 season will be played to determine the final two (2) A-League teams to enter the Round of 32.
• Wollongong Wolves (NPL 2019 Champions) will be granted entry into the FFA Cup 2021 Final Rounds. Wollongong missed out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the 2021 iteration of the FFA Cup onwards, the FFA Cup Final will be played at a neutral venue and the FFA Cup Semi-Finals and Final will be contested on stand-alone weekends to ensure that the competition’s showpiece fixtures have the opportunity to establish a significant place on the national sporting calendar.

Additionally, for the first-time next year’s FFA Cup winners will be granted one of Australia’s preliminary round slots in the AFC Champions League*, meaning clubs from all levels of the Australian football ecosystem can aspire to compete against Asia’s best.
FFA Chief Executive Officer, James Johnson, said adjustments to the FFA Cup from 2021 onwards are aligned to Principle IV of the XI Principles for the future of Australian football and will bring a new edge to the competition.
“Principle IV of our XI Principles speaks to the ongoing optimisation of Australia’s competition structures and ensuring that Australia’s football pyramid is aligned and connected. The FFA Cup is unique amongst all other sporting competitions in Australia in that a team of builders, electricians and office-workers might get the chance to compete against five-time A-League Champions Sydney FC,” Johnson said.

“These changes to the FFA Cup from 2021 onwards demonstrate FFA’s commitment to not only enhancing the FFA Cup for the enjoyment of our football community, but to provide players and clubs at all levels of the game with the opportunity to aspire to represent Australia on the global stage.
“Playing the FFA Cup Final on a stand-alone weekend will enable the FFA Cup Final to develop its own identity within the national football calendar, and we envisage that an array of events – such as a national football conference or a national football weekend festival – can in the future be held in parallel with the FFA Cup Final. Furthermore, we believe that by connecting the FFA Cup Final with a variety of supporting football-focused events, we can engage a wide cross-section of the football community and make the event an increasingly attractive proposition to host cities and Governments.”
The 2020 version of the FFA Cup was cancelled earlier this year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of cancellation, 765 clubs had registered to participate in the competition – the second most since the competition commenced in 2014.
Johnson is confident that a significant number of the clubs registered to compete in 2020 will return in 2021, as the FFA Cup Round of 32 draw and format is also revised.
“Next year’s FFA Cup Preliminary Rounds will be held much like in years gone by, however we are moving to adjust the structure of the Round of 32 – where professional A-League clubs enter the competition – into four geographic Zones. These Zones will promote local rivalries and competitive tension, and for the first time will feature an open draw to determine matches. The open draw will continue to feature right through to the semi-final stage, ensuring that there’s absolute uncertainty when the draw for each round of the competition is staged,” he said.
The FFA Cup 2021 Preliminary Rounds will be held between February and July next year, with the Final Rounds planned to be played between July and November. Precise match dates and details will be confirmed in due course.
The FFA Cup has received widespread acceptance by the Australian football community since its inception in 2014 because of its ability to connect all levels of the game across Australia. The knockout format has generated competitive tension and uncertainty over the years and these new enhancements further solidify that this competition rewards sporting merit.
The introduction of an FFA Cup for women and youth are part of FFA’s bold and innovative 15-year vision for the game. FFA will also continue to assess the introduction of a group stage throughout the competition, as ways to enhance and increase the number of competitive match minutes available to Australian players are considered.

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1. Kelab gergasi Singapura, Tampines Rovers mengesahkan tempat dalam AFC Champions League (ACL) pada tahun depan apabila mencatat keputusan seri 1-1 ke atas Kelab gergasi Singapura, Tampines Rovers mengesahkan tempat dalam AFC Champions League (ACL) pada tahun depan apabila mencatat keputusan seri 1-1 ke atas pencabar terdekat, Lion City Sailors dalam saingan Liga Perdana Singapura (SPL) semalam.
2. Sebaliknya, slot AFC Cup 2021 tersebut akan diberikan kepada pasukan tempat ke-2 liga dan 1 lagi slot akan diberikan kepada pasukan ditempat ke-3 liga. Kedudukan Semasa Saingan CIMB Liga Super 2020 Berdasarkan kedudukan saingan CIMB Liga Super semasa, perebutan tempat ke-2 dan ke-3 liga hanya akan menjadi milik samada Kedah, Perak atau.
3. It is decided that the league-stage winners of 2019-20 Indian Super League would be awarded an AFC Champions League (ACL) group stage spot and the runners-up of the league-stage would go on to feature in the playoffs of the AFC Cup. Accordingly, FC Goa, ATK-Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC will all play at the continental level in 2021.
4. AFC Champions League 2021 - Goa AFC Cup 2021 - I League Champion (special dispensation for 3 yrs) AFC Cup 2021 playoffs - ISL Champion If Mohun Bagan win the ILeague & ATK win the ISL, the I League runner-up will get direct entry into AFC Cup & ATKMB will be in AFC Cup playoffs. — Anant Tyagi (@AnanTyagi) March 10, 2020. But to the surprise.

Throughout 2021, FFA will conduct consultation with Australia’s football community regarding the potential renaming of the FFA Cup. The potential renaming of the competition is due to the current transition from Football Federation Australia to the new company name of ‘Football Australia’. The transition from Football Federation Australia to ‘Football Australia’ received unanimous Congress support at FFA’s seventeenth Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, 25 November 2020.

In addition, FFA today launched a short survey to capture data and feedback related to the FFA Cup and its development. The survey, available here, provides Australia’s football family with the opportunity to submit ideas as to what the FFA Cup could be named in the future.

HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE FFA CUP
*Admission to AFC Champions League Preliminary Rounds subject to winning club meeting AFC Club Licensing Regulations.

Football Federation Australia CEO James Johnson joined SEN's The Sporting Capital on Tuesday evening to discuss the upcoming changes to the FFA Cup in 2021.

Earlier on Tuesday, it was announced that several changes will be made to the FFA Cup from 2021, including the Semi Finals and Final to be played on stand-alone weekends, the introduction of an AFC Champions League slot for the Winners of the competition, the Cup Final to be played at a neutral venue, and a potential name change to the competition.

The changes were well received by the Australian football community, and Johnson joined the radio program to discuss some of them in further detail.

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On the introduction of a pathway into the AFC Champions League, Johnson told The Sporting Capital:

'What we're trying to do here is provide more opportunities for clubs all around the country to participate more at a national level, and also at an international level. And we think this change with the AFC Champions League slot allocation will incentivise clubs to grow, because now they have an opportunity to play both locally at a national level, but also globally in the Champions League.

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'We think that in order for clubs to grow, they need to be incentivised. If the clubs want to participate in the Champions League, they will need to go through a club licensing process. Clubs all across the country, whether they're in the A-League or in the NPL (need to go through this process), and that is a system that the AFC, the Asian Football Confederation, has designed. And what it really is about, is about meeting certain criteria which are really benchmarks that our clubs can grow and aspire to. So we think this will provide a strategic framework for our clubs to grow into. So I think the clubs across the country are very happy with this change.'

On the FFA Cup Final being played at a neutral venue, Johnson said:

'It's really about sporting integrity. And what we mean by a neutral venue is that the destination (of the Final) will be decided before the competition starts. What we're trying to do is really differentiate from different competition models. We want to be very much focused on integrity, sporting integrity, and we want to ensure that no club, or no competitor, has a sporting advantage in the Final and in a knockout competition, I think this works quite nicely.

'Ultimately, if you make the Final and you play it at a neutral venue, there will be no home field advantage in this new competition format. And this is a concept that works very well in many of the leading sporting competitions, not only in Australia, but also around the world, the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, the League Cup, even the Super Bowl in the NFL, these are all competitions that use a neutral venue format for this purpose.'

On the Semi Finals and Finals on stand-alone weekends, Johnson said:

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'We really want this competition to develop its own identity. And of course, if these important matches are played on weekends as opposed to mid-week, then it really is symbolic in terms of the level of importance that we're creating for this competition.

'We're also in parallel, talking with our stakeholders about a national football calendar. We're in this funny situation in our code where the A-League and the rest of the code play at different season times, and we're trying to align the seasons. So not only would this competition be played Semi Finals and Finals on the weekends, but we want these games to be the last matches of the football season.'

On the renaming of the FFA Cup, Johnson said:

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'It's not just a revamp of a competition, it's a broader strategy to really transform the entire sport. One thing that is really crucial to us is that we understand our people, our community, our fans better. And this is exactly why we've gone through the consultation process in the rename.

'We've changed to Football Australia from Football Federation Australia, so naturally the FFA Cup will change name as well. But we want to hear from our fans, we want to hear from our community, and that will be very informative when we sit down and take a decision on what this great competition will be named.'