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Defending champions must compete in qualifiers for 2007 Asian Cup
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-17 23:17

Defending champions must compete in the qualifying tournament for a berth in the 2007 Asian Cup, the first time in Asian Cup history, Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in Beijing on Saturday.

"This year's Asian Cup champion will not win an automatic ticket for the next Asian Cup in 2007," Hammam said in a press conference hours before the opening of the Asian Cup.

He said that the decision will not be a bitter pill for this year's champion to swallow.

"We tried to avoid unfairness by announcing this decision before the competition," he said. "It will be very difficult to announce it after the tournament.

"We have our reason. Even the FIFA World Cup champion will have to compete in the qualifying tournament to get a ticket to play the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany," he added.

FIFA decided during the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan that the champions' automatic ticket to the World Cup finals would be deprived.

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