{"id":1086,"date":"2020-01-13T18:27:32","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T07:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/?p=1086"},"modified":"2026-09-23T14:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T04:58:08","slug":"opinion-time-to-review-the-acl-31-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/ro\/opinion-time-to-review-the-acl-31-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Time to review the ACL’s 3+1 rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Park Il-gyu has had a pretty unremarkable career.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese-born South Korean shot-stopper has spent most of his career in the lower tiers of Japanese football, mostly in J3 with Fujieda MYFC and FC Ryukyu. As such, few headlines were made when the then 28-year-old was plucked from relative obscurity by Yokohama F.Marinos ahead of the 2019 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But seizing his opportunity when veteran Hiroki Ikura, who had been with Marinos since 2005, departed the club early in the 2019 season, Park quickly assumed the number one mantle and played a key role in Yokohama breaking their long title drought<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For just the second time since 2005, Yokohama F.Marinos will play in\nthe continent\u2019s showpiece tournament \u2013 the AFC Champions League. It\u2019s a\nmeteoric rise for the 30-year-old who just over 12 months ago was playing in\nfront of just a few thousand fans in the third tier of Japanese football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, having won the J.League title in front of over 60,000, Park is on\nthe verge of playing against the likes of Oscar and Hulk at Shanghai SIPG, as\nwell as the AFC Champions League\u2019s all-time leading scorer, Lee Dong-gook of\nJeonbuk Hyundai. It is the stuff of dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except that Park might not get on the pitch. Not because he\u2019s injured, and not because he\u2019s out of form or not good enough. But because of regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Asian Football Confederation introduced what is known as the \u201c3+1\nrule\u201d for the 2009 edition of the AFC Champions League, allowing for four\nforeign players to be included in any match day squad so long as one of them\nwas from an AFC member nation. Otherwise a limit of three foreigners would apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In simple terms, three \u201cnormal\u201d foreigners (i.e. from Europe or South\nAmerica) and one \u201cAsian player\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I would love to see a Saudi player playing in Korea and a Korean\nplaying in Saudi Arabia,” AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By implementing this 3+1 rule, we are giving more chances for\nAsian players to play for other Asian clubs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And few could argue that the rule hasn\u2019t been effective. It was almost immediately implemented by leagues across the continent and so we saw Bin Hammam\u2019s dream become reality as players moved freely around the continent as clubs, especially those playing in the ACL, capitalised on the new regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Vietnam’s L\u01b0\u01a1ng Xu\u00e2n Tr\u01b0\u1eddng last year signed for Thailand’s Buriram United
(Photo: IG\/Buriram United)<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But as more and more players traverse the continent, and some league\u2019s\nrelax their foreign player limits, we are beginning to see a (perhaps\nunintended) consequence of the rule. Clubs that have been proactive and signed\nmore than one \u201cAsian player\u201d are now having to choose which one to include in\ntheir AFC Champions League squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the simple answer is that there is nothing stopping a club\nfrom registering a second or third \u201cAsian player\u201d as one of the three in the\n3+1 scenario. And that is true. But we also have to live in reality and know\nthat, more often than not, clubs are going to prioritise their other\nforeigners, often on big money, from South America or Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of Yokohama F.Marinos, with the J.League\u2019s relaxed foreign\nplayer limits, they somehow have to squeeze Park, Theerathon Bunmathan\n(Thailand), Erik (Brazil), Thiago Martins (Brazil), Edigar Junio (Brazil), and Marcos\nJunior (Brazil) into their AFC Champions League squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six into four doesn\u2019t go, so two players are going to have to be\nsqueezed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theerathon appears a lock for the \u201c+1\u201d spot, which leaves three other\nspots available. Thiago is one of the league\u2019s best defenders and picks\nhimself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That leaves two spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erik and Marcos Junior struck up a title-winning combination at the\ntail end of the 2019 J.League season, while Edigar Junio and Marcos Junior were\nequally compelling at the start of the campaign before injury ended Edigar\nJunio\u2019s season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to see Ange Postecoglou not opting for one of those\ncombinations, which means, as well as one of the Brazilians, Park gets squeezed\nout. His chance to showcase himself on Asia\u2019s biggest stage, his chance to cap\na fairytale rise from J3 to the summit of Asian football, all dashed by a\nregulation that in effect limits the number of Asian players in the\ncompetition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems hugely counterproductive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clubs in Thailand, and increasingly in other Southeast Asian nations as the tournament expands to 40 teams in 2021, have and will encounter the same problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\uc548\ub155\ud558\uc138\uc694 \ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf5\ud83d\ude03 pic.twitter.com\/l1MVgU8378<\/a><\/p>— Al Duhail SC | \u0646\u0627\u062f\u064a \u0627\u0644\u062f\u062d\u064a\u0644 (@DuhailSC) January 8, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>