The Canadian Soccer Association has announced the 2013 schedule for the sixth edition of the Amway Canadian Championship. The six-match schedule will once again feature the nation’s top-four professional clubs, with the Montreal Impact, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Toronto FC and FC Edmonton, all playing for the honour to lift the Voyageurs Cup and represent Canada in the 2013-14 edition of CONCACAF Champions League.
Canada’s three MLS clubs will be ranked first, second and third based on the league’s 2012 regular-season standings. With one month to play, Montreal and Vancouver are caught in a tight race for the top seed. The final 2012 Canadian ranking will be confirmed after the final 2012 MLS regular-season matches on 28 October 2012.
The 2013 Amway Canadian Championship features a one-vs-four and two-vs-three semi-final format. The four semi-final matches will be played on 24 April (first leg) and 1 May (second leg). Each home-and-away semi-final series will advance the team that scores the most goals over two matches. The two home-and-away final-series matches will then be played on 15 May (first leg) and 29 May (second leg). The champion will qualify as Canada’s representative for the 24-team CONCACAF Champions League competition, from which the 2013-14 CONCACAF champion then qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2014.
Through the first five editions of the Amway Canadian Championship, Impact Montréal were inaugural champions (2008) followed by Toronto FC who won the Voyageurs Cup in four successive seasons (2009 to 2012). In CONCACAF Champions League, both Impact Montréal (2008-09) and Toronto FC (2011-12) have reached the quarter-final phase of continental club championship.
2013 AMWAY CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
SEMI-FINAL SERIES:
1st Leg on 24 April 2013 – #4 vs. #1
1st Leg on 24 April 2013 – #3 vs. #2
2nd Leg on 1 May 2013 – #2 vs. #3
2nd Leg on 1 May 2013 – #1 vs. #4
FINAL SERIES:
1st Leg on 15 May 2013
2nd Leg on 29 May 2013
