According to Tasnim news agency, with the official announcement of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), club competitions in the Asian continent with the participation of 24 teams will begin from the 2024-25 season. Accordingly, 76 club teams will participate in three different levels of Asian club competitions instead of the current two competitions (Asian Champions League and AFC Cup). The premier tournament (Champions League) will consist of a total of 24 participating teams, who will be divided into two groups of 12 teams in the West and East regions and will compete in a league format.
Each team plays four home games and four away games against eight different teams in their region. Finally, the top eight teams from each region (16 teams in total) will advance to the round of 16 and the games will be played at home and away. The top eight teams of the 18th final stage will advance to the quarter final stage, and from this stage onwards until the final match, the games will be played as a single game in a centralized place.
The second level of Asian club football will be held with 32 participating teams in 8 four-team groups. In the group stage, the clubs will face each other at home and away, and the top two teams of each group will advance to the round of 16. Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held in round-robin fashion, and the final will be played as a single game.
The third level of Asian club football will consist of 20 participating teams, which will be divided into five groups of four teams. These teams will compete with each other in a single game and in a concentrated manner, and then the top eight teams will advance to the quarter final stage. The quarter-final and semi-final stages of this level of competition will be held in round-robin fashion, while the champion will be determined in the final singles.
The losing teams of the preliminary stage and playoffs (games before the group stage) of the first level league will be given the opportunity to participate in the second level competitions, and the losing teams of the preliminary stage and second level playoffs will also be allowed to participate in the third level of the competition.
As a result of these changes, the total number of Asian club football matches is expected to increase from at least 274 to 287 games.
Quota of foreign players
In February 2022, the AFC Executive Committee approved the proposal to increase the quota of foreign players in the team list from the existing quota of 3+1 to 5+1 (five players from each nationality and one Asian player), which is to be applied from the 2023-24 season. .
In another important decision aimed at improving the quality and status of AFC club competitions, the organizing committee also agreed to recognize each AFC member federation’s internal regulations on foreign player registration and to increase the foreign player registration quota from the 2024-25 season onwards. delete
Classification of leagues of member federations and quota allocation
In February 2022, members of the AFC Executive Committee noted the need to introduce a calculation method that better reflects the new competition formats, while noting the challenges and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the 2020-2022 seasons.
It has been approved that the ranking of club competitions to determine quota allocation for the 2024-25 season onwards will be based on the performance of the participating clubs over the past eight years (weighted) to better reflect their historical performance.
The final points of the member federations will be based on the average performance of all clubs in the group stage of the AFC club competitions onwards, which will be applied retroactively to recalculate the points of the 2021 and 2022 seasons of the member federations for the purpose of ranking the 2022 AFC club competitions.
In addition, in determining the place allocation for the respective club competitions, the organizing committee agreed to a new place allocation, which allocates clubs at three different levels.
The new slot allocation will provide the title holders with the opportunity to participate in the next round of AFC Club Competitions, adding further sporting value to participating clubs at every level.
Financial distribution
The members of the tournament organizing committee also mentioned the plans underway to significantly increase the financial distribution to the participating clubs, and more details will be announced in due course.
More details on the strategic reforms, including the titles of the three different levels of competition, the principles of tournament planning, the calendar and the finalized regulations, will be communicated in due course.
All decisions must be approved by the AFC Executive Committee before they become effective.