Japan and Saudi Arabia stand to be the big winners from the revamped AFC Champions League, with as many as six clubs qualifying to participate in the AFC’s continental club competitions from next season onwards.
In a surprising development, the AFC announced last week ‘landmark’ changes to the format and structure of its showpiece club tournament, just two years after the significant reforms that resulted in the new three-tier system across the AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two and AFC Challenge League.
Among the changes announced last week were an expansion from 24 clubs to 32, evenly split between the East and West Zones, and a new format to determine which teams progress from the League Stage to the Knockout Stage.
Whereas previously the top eight teams (in each respective zone) automatically qualified for the Round of 16, now only the top six are guaranteed a place. Those who finish between seventh and tenth will now enter the ‘Knockout Stage Playoff’ – a one-leg playoff, to be hosted by the highest ranked team, to determine the final two teams to progress to the Round of 16.
Missing from the AFC’s announcement, however, were details on how the extra eight spots would be allocated, leaving a void to be filled by speculation and online chatter.
But, as exclusively revealed by The Asian Game on X on Monday, Japan and Saudi Arabia are the biggest winners from a revamped slot allocation, which will be officially ratified by the AFC’s Professional Football Committee at their meeting in Jeddah on Friday, ahead of this year’s AFC Champions League Elite Final.
Both nations will see their respective allocation for the AFC Champions League Elite expand by two, with the addition of two ‘indirect’ slots into the preliminary rounds.
In effect, however, this will add a fourth direct slot, while the lowest ranked side will have to navigate a single-leg playoff to confirm their place in the League Stage. This is due to how the AFC structures its preliminary rounds, with five slots for three available positions in the League Stage.
This is done to protect against the possibility of a team outside the top seven member associations (MA) winning the AFC Champions League Two, which comes with a preliminary round slot into the ACL Elite.
In such a scenario, there would then be six teams in the preliminary rounds and both clubs from Japan and Saudi Arabia would have to navigate the single-leg playoff.
But with that scenario increasingly unlikely, especially with the added strength flowing down into ACL Two, it means the highest ranked of the two teams who earn an indirect slot will advance directly to the League Stage by default.
Other winners from the revamped slot allocation include:
- UAE and Korea, both of whom receive a third direct slot;
- Qatar and Thailand, both of whom see their single indirect slot converted into a third direct slot;
- Iran and China; both of whom see their single indirect slot converted into a second direct slot; and
- Uzbekistan and Australia, both of whom receive an additional indirect slot.
Jordan and Vietnam are also big winners, with the AFC expanding the pool of MAs eligible to participate in ACL Elite from six to seven, with each nation earning an indirect slot, which comes at the expense of an indirect slot in ACL Two.
The changes are likely to be controversial given how heavily weighted they are in favour of the continent’s strongest Member Associations, which could create an even bigger divide across the continent as the strong get stronger.
Also sparking debate is the AFC’s decision to rush these changes through for next season, which means as domestic leagues either conclude, or have concluded, there are additional slots up for grabs that teams didn’t know were on the table.
Under the previous regulations Member Associations had to submit their proposed methodology for their slot distribution by 31 March. With additional slots now available to them, AFC has granted those impacted a deadline to 22 May to confirm their proposed methodology.
There are no plans, however, to do away with the controversial centralised Finals format. For the second straight season, the Saudi city of Jeddah is hosting the centralised Finals, which sees all fixtures from the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final played in the one location.
Despite the growing profile of the tournament, however, that has not been enough to entice fans to attend fixtures not featuring Saudi Pro League clubs. While those matches featuring SPL clubs are played in front of raucous crowds, those not featuring SPL teams take place in silence.
Just 227 fans turned up to watch a five-goal thriller between the UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli and Thailand’s Buriram United.
Despite the close proximity, there weren’t many more when Qatari powerhouse played out a six-goal classic against Vissel Kobe, with 1212 the announced attendance.
Al Ahli spared the blushes of organiser and AFC with a come-from-behind victory over Vissel Kobe in the semi-finals, ensuring that one of the Saudi giants make it through to the final and avoiding a final not featuring a Saudi club and the potentially embarrassing scenario of a final played in front of empty grandstands.
In further changes to be confirmed this week, the AFC will introduce an additional preliminary stage slot for the AFC Champions League Two, reserved for the runner-up of the AFC Challenge League (ACGL).
This, it says, is done to “…enhance the competitive experience and motivation of ACGL PMAs (Participating Member Associations) and PCs (Participating Clubs).”
