VIENTIANE (17 Oct 2011) – The 4th edition of the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy (HBT) next year marked a return of the Under-21 championship after a two year hiatus.
This was announced by Dato Paduka Abdul Rahman Mohiddin, the president of the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) at the 3rd AFF Council meeting for the session 2011-2015 which was held here yesterday.
The HBT will be held in Bandar Seri Begawan on 25 February to 5 March 2012.
“We are here to officially invite all teams from ASEAN to come and take part in this tournament. We are looking at ten teams taking part but even if it is eleven, we should be able to accommodate it,” said Dato Paduka Abdul Rahman.
“As hosts, we will be sponsoring board and lodging as well as the internal transportation.”
Dato Paduka Abdul Rahman also announced that the champions of the tournament will win BND 20,000 (USD 15,800), the runners-up BND 10,000 (USD 7,900) and the third team BND 5,000 (USD 3,950).
In the meantime, the AFF Under-16 Preparatory Tournament will be hosted by Laos in 2012 in preparation for the AFC U16 Championship final round which will be held on 21 Sept – 6 Oct 2012.
The tournament is tailored purposely for the three qualified teams from ASEAN – Thailand, Australia and Laos – alongside one invited team from Asia.
The AFF U19 Preparatory Tournament in the meantime will be announced at a later date as the results of the qualifiers from ASEAN will only be known on 11 Nov 2011.
The final round of the AFC U19 Championship 2012 will be played out on 2-17 November 2012.
The AFF Futsal Championship 2012 will be held sometime in March in Bangkok, Thailand with the FA of Thailand (FAT) agreeing that they will wholly sponsor the event.
The AFF Women’s Championship 2012 will be held in July with Vietnam as hosts.
The next council meeting of the AFF will be held in Manila, Philippines early next year.
