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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 08, 2002

Draw Ceremony of 13th Asian Cup Held in Beijing

The draw ceremony for the preliminary round and qualifying round competitions of the 13th Asian Cup, hosted by China in 2004, was held Saturday in Beijing.


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Draw Ceremony of 13th Asian Cup Held in Beijing
The draw ceremony for the preliminary round and qualifying round competitions of the 13th Asian Cup, hosted by China in 2004, was held Saturday in Beijing.

Asian Football Confederation (AFC) delegation as well as representatives of the 40 AFC participating teams attended the ceremony. Host China, and defending champion Japan have automatic berths in the final round.

Twenty-eight teams taking part in the qualifying round were divided into 7 groups, and the first two winners from each group will compete in the Asian Cup after the qualifying round plus China and Japan.

Another 20 teams, which divided into 7 groups according to their FIFA rankings, will enter for the preliminary round. The winner from each group will advance to the qualifying round.

South Korea, which entered the semi-finals of the World Cup finals this year, belongs to qualifying Group E with Vietnam, Omanand the winner of Group C in preliminary round.

Saudi Arabia, the runner-up in 2000 Asian Cup, joins qualifyingGroup C with Yemen, Indonesia and the winner of Group F in preliminary round.

As the top level football event in Asia, Asian Cup was introduced by AFC to promote the development and improvement of football among AFC member associations.

AFC Executive Committee on October 12, 2000 in Lebanon decided China to be the host of the 13th Asian Cup. Beijing, Chongqing, Ji'nan and Chengdu will be the four venue cities for 2004 Asian Cup.

The AFC Executive Committee also decided to increase the numberof participating teams in the final 12 to 16, starting from the 2004 Asian Cup.

Peter Velappan, general secretary of AFC, said: "AFC are confident toward China although I know it will be very hard to host such an international tournament.

"Women's World Cup will be held next year in China. So China will get experience from it and I'm sure China will also give us awonderful show in 2004 Asian Cup."


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