The decision to have four host nations for this edition of the Asian Cup was proposed and presented to the executive committee by AFC president Mohammed Bin Hammam. However, he later regretted this decision and called it his "mistake", citing the financial and logistic difficulties in organising an event across four countries.
He said that "It is proving very difficult for [the executive committee as they] have to have four organising committees, four media centres and there are also financial considerations." He also revealed that "[He would] definitely [not do] it [again]," if he had the choice.
In June 2005, the Asian Football Confederation warned Thailand that it needed to improve its facilities before 2007, otherwise it would be dropped, possibly being replaced with Singapore. On August 12 of the same year, the AFC confirmed that Thailand would be a co-host of the 2007 Asian Cup.[1] However in October 2006, Thailand was again warned to improve its facilities in 90 days.[2]
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The qualification round ran from February 22, 2006 to November 15, 2006. For the first time, the defending champions (Japan) needed to attend the qualification stage. Twenty-four teams attempted to qualify for 2007 AFC Asian Cup. They were divided into 4 teams for each group and determined the remaining last 12 places, as the four co-hosts - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - were already granted automatic qualification.
For the first time, the seeds are based on the October 2006 FIFA World Rankings instead of the basis of the performance from the previous AFC Asian Cup competition. This was to ensure that the same number of strong teams do not meet in the early stage.[3]
The four seeded teams were announced on December 19, 2006. The seeds comprised Pot 4 in the draw. Pot 1 consists of the teams from all co-hosts.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
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On December 19, 2006, the draw was held in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).
The Official Match Ball for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup was launched by Nike on May 15 2007, making it the first time ever that a ball had been launched specifically for any football competition in Asia.[4] The Nike Mercurial Veloci AC features four blue stripes with gold trim with each host city's name inscribed, as well as the AFC Asian Cup logo.[5]
16 referees and 24 assistant referees were officially cleared following a fitness test scheduled on July 2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One referee and two assistant referees have also been named from the CAF.[6]
