AFC Champions League: Information from Answers.com

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AFC Champions League

Founded	2002
Region	Asia (AFC)
Number of teams	32
Current champions	Pohang Steelers
Most successful club	Pohang Steelers (3 times)
2009 AFC Champions League

The AFC Champions League is the modern premier Asian club football competition hosted annually by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament is contested among the top thirty clubs from top 10 Asian leagues joined with two more clubs qualified through the playoffs. The champions receive a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the year and about US$2.25 million in prize money (specific amount depends on record from the group stage).

The defending champion no longer receives an automatic berth, forcing them to qualify through their respective domestic league or cup competition. The qualifying round starts in late February and the single-match final takes place in early November at a neutral venue.

Pohang Steelers are currently the most successful club in the competition's history, having won their third title in 2009. League-wise, the Korean K-League has 8 titles and is the most successful league competition.

1 History
2 Current Regulations
3 Participating Associations
4 Asian Champions Cup and Champions League Finals
5 Participating Associations by Debut
6 AFC Champions League records and statistics
7 Top Scorers
8 Fair Play Award
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

History

Asian Champion Club Tournament Era (1967-1972)

The competition started as the Asian Champion Club Tournament back in 1967. Eight domestic champions from eight Asian leagues competed in the inaugural season. With the exception of 1968 season, the tournament was held annually until 1971. During this first four editions, two Israeli clubs from Tel Aviv took three championships. In 1972, the tournament canceled due to a lack of interests which eventually resulted in withdrawals of most participants except for two clubs. The tournament was not held for next fourteen years. This also because professionalism in Asian club football did not start till late 90s and early 2000s.

Asian Club Championship Era (1985/86-2001/02)

Using old European Cup as a model, the tournament returned to Asia during the 1985/86 season with a new name, Asian Club Championship. Entry was restricted to the domestic champions of certain Asian leagues. Even so, few withdrawal were seen from year to year. From 1990, AFC introduced Asian Cup Winners Cup which, as the name suggest, was also restricted to domestic cup winners. The winners of these two Asian tournaments then played at the Asian Super Cup.

AFC Champions League Era (2002/03-present)

The 2002/03 Season

From 2002/03 season the three major Asian club competitions, Asian Champions Cup, Asian Cup Winners Cup, and Asian Super Cup was merged into one larger tournament and was re-branded as AFC Champions League. In the previous years, the domestic champions and cup winners were sorted into two different continental tournaments, but now both domestic champions and cup winners enter into this larger competition. In the first edition, after several qualifying round, a total of sixteen clubs participated in group stage. One club from each group hosted the group stage which were conducted with the single round-robin format in a week. Four group winners, then qualified to the semifinals, which unsurprising were the four hosts of the group stage. The semifinal and the finals were contested in two-legged aggregate series.

The 2003/04 Season

The 2003/04 season was canceled due to SARS virus outbreak and the War in Iraq.

The 2004-2008 Seasons

The tournament was re-launched in 2004 season with 28 clubs from fourteen or fifteen countries. Unlike previous year, tournament schedule changed from March to November. In the group stage, the 28 clubs were divided into seven groups of four and played double round-robin in home and away basis. Then, the seven group winners along with defending champions qualified to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals were two-legged series, with away goal, extra time, and penalties used as tie-breaker. From 2007, Australian clubs were included in the tournament, following their transfer into the AFC in 2006. With lack of professionalism in Asian football, many problem still existed in the tournament, such as on the field violence and late submission of the player registration. Many blamed the lack of prize money and expensive travel cost as the some of the reasons. However, with the introduction FIFA World Club Championship in 2005 (or FIFA Club World Cup), inclusion of English media through the A-League, and two consecutive wins by Japanese sides (the most professional football league in Asia), allowed the 2004 to 2008 seasons to set up a more competitive and more professional stage in 2009.

The 2009 season - present

The Champions League expanded to 32 clubs and direct entry will be limited to the top ten Asian leagues. Each country will receive up to 4 slots depending on the strength of their league, league structure (professionalism), marketability, financial status, and other criteria set out by the AFC Pro-League committee. The prize money has significantly increased from the 2009 season and the clubs can earn some prize money even at the group stage depending on their performance. The group stage will be conducted in the same manner as the previous four tournaments; however, this time, the eight group winners and eight runners-up will qualify to the Round-of-16. At the Round-of-16, the group-winners will play host to runners-up in a single match format, matched regionally. The regional restriction is lifted from the quarterfinal, and the quarterfinals and semifinals will be two-legged series, with away goals, extra time, and penalties used as tie-breaker. The final will be single match at a pre-determined neutral venue.

Current Regulations

Qualification

The qualifications are based on AFC Final Assessment Rankings (see below). The assessments was conducted by AFC Pro-League committee during 2006-2008, and is based on the football competitiveness, professionalism, marketability, and financial status of the league and its clubs. Leagues can have up to four spots. However, some league may have to enter their club through qualifying playoffs. The previous year's AFC Cup finalist may also enter qualifying playoffs given that their league meets the AFC Champions League criteria. The assessment ranking will be updated every two years, as the next one will be published in late 2010.

AFC Final Assessment Ranking

West Asia
Pos	Member Association	Points (total 500)	Clubs	Spots
Pos	Member Association	Points (total 500)	Clubs	Group stage	Play-off	AFC Cup
4	Saudi Arabia	365	12	4	0	0
5	UAE	356	12	3	1	0
7	Iran	340	18	4	0	0
9	Uzbekistan	289	16	2	0	1
10	Qatar	270	10	2	0	0
13	India	202	10	0	1	1
15	Syria	229	n/a	0	0	2
16	Jordan	212	n/a	0	0	2
17	Kuwait	203	n/a	0	0	2
20	Oman	140	n/a	0	0	2
21	Bahrain	139	n/a	0	0	2

East Asia
Pos	Member Association	Points (total 500)	Clubs	Spots
Pos	Member Association	Points (total 500)	Clubs	Group stage	Play-off	AFC Cup
1	Japan	470	18	4	0	0
2	South Korea	441	15	4	0	0
3	China	431	16	4	0	0
6	Australia	343	10	2	0	0
8	Indonesia	296	18	1	1	0
11	Singapore	279	12	0	1	1
12	Thailand	221	16	0	1	1
14	Vietnam	191	14	0	1	1
18	Malaysia	179	n/a	0	0	2
19	Hong Kong	148	n/a	0	0	2

	Meet the criteria
	Do not meet the criteria

Format

Qualifying play-off

8 teams, 2 knock-out rounds, each 1 leg, on a regional basis, 2 winners qualify for the group stage.

Group Stage

A total of 32 clubs are divided into 8 groups of four, based on region i.e. East Asian and South-east Asian clubs are drawn in Group E to H, while the rest are grouped in Group A to D. Each group is a double round robin, for a total of 6 matches for each team. Clubs receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked according to points and tie breakers are in following order:

Points earned between the clubs in question
Goal Difference between the clubs in question
Goals For between the clubs in question
Goal Difference within the group
Goals For within the group

The eight group winners and eight runners-up qualify to the Knock-out Round.

Knock-out Round, Round-of-16

Group winners vs group runners-up, 1 leg, on a regional basis.

Knock-out Round, Quarterfinals & Semifinal

All 8 clubs are randomly matched; however, the only restriction is that the clubs from same country cannot face each other in the quarter-finals. The games are conducted in 2 legs -home and away- where the aggregate goals decides the match winner. If the aggregate goals cannot produce a winner the away goals rule is used. If still tied the clubs play extra time, where the away goals rule still applies. If still tied after extra time, the game goes to penalties.

Final

One 90-min game at a neutral venue. If tied after regulation, extra-time, penalty kick will be used to produce a winner.

Prize money

The budget for the tournament has increased from US $4 million in 2008 to US $20 million in 2009, with the total prize pool now equalling US $14 million. The winner receives US $1.5 million in prize money plus additional winnings collected from the earlier rounds.^[3]^[4] Clubs receive a travel subsidy for each away match. Thus, for each round of 16 tie, only one club receives a travel subsidy.

Group stages

Win: $40,000
Draw: $20,000
Loss: $0
Travel subsidy: $30,000 x 3

Round of 16

Participation: $50,000
Travel subsidy: $40,000

Quarter-finals

Participation: $80,000
Travel subsidy: $50,000

Semi-finals

Participation: $120,000
Travel subsidy: $60,000

Final

Champions: $1.5 million
Runners-up: $750,000
Travel subsidy: $60,000

Participating Associations

Associations	Spots
Associations	2002/03	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
East Asia
Australia	–	–	–	–	2	2	2	2
China PR	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4
Indonesia	0	2	2	0	2	0	1	1†
Japan	2	2	2	2	2	3	4	4
Korea Republic	2	2	2	2	3	2	4	4
Singapore	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0†
Thailand	2	2	2	0	1	2	0	0†
Vietnam	0	2	2	2	1	2	0	0†
Total	8	12	12	8	13	13	16	16
West Asia
Bahrain	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
India	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0†
Iran	2	2	2	2	1	2	4	4
Iraq	1	2	2	2	2	2	0	0
Kuwait	0	2	2	2	2	2	0	0
Qatar	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Saudi Arabia	1	2	3	3	2	2	4	4
Syria	0	0	2	2	2	2	0	0
Turkmenistan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
UAE	1	3	2	2	2	2	4	3†
Uzbekistan	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Total	8	17	17	17	15	16	16	16
Total
	16	29	29	25	28	29	32	32

† May get one more spot via qualifying play-off

Asian Champions Cup and Champions League Finals