[2] Thailand was first chosen as host but withdrew due to lack of time to prepare.

[3] The Philippines also was to take over as host with matches to be played in Bacolod in May 2008 but the plan failed to materialized.

India and Bangladesh have again been invited for the 2008 edition of the tournament, along with North Korea, Myanmar and Turkmenistan who are also a part of the developing nations class.

[6] Due to the poor conditions of the pitch at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, the AFC moved the majority of the matches to another venue.

In addition, India (tournament hosts), Korea DPR, Turkmenistan and Myanmar qualified automatically.