Selection of Teams
The AFC initially divided their 46 member nations into three groups in 2006. Although the tournament is meant for the countries of emerging associations class, some countries from the developing associations class and even the developed associations class have participated in the qualification and the finals of the tournament such as India, Maldives, Myanmar, North Korea, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. As a result, no team from the emerging class has actually won the tournament. In late March 2012, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, although only an associate member of the AFC, were approved by the AFC to enter their national team in the competition. In November 2012, the AFC announced North Korea’s exclusion from future AFC Challenge Cups and that winners of future AFC Challenge Cups after 2014 would not gain automatic qualification to future AFC Asian Cups.
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The top 15 are classed as developed associations.
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The next 14 are classed as developing associations.
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The last 17 are classed as emerging associations, which need time to develop their football. These are the teams which participate.
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Read more about this topic: AFC Challenge Cup
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