There are rumors saying they'll change the format again, no seperation between West and East in round of 16
West Asia Saudi Arabia 3+1 Iran 3+1 Uzbekistan 3+1 UAE 2+2 Qatar 1+2 Kuwait 0+1 Jordan 0+1 Oman 0+1 Bahrain 0+1 Iraq,Lebanon,Syria failed to meet AFC assessment critria
East Asia South Korea 3+1 Japan 3+1 Australia 2+1 China 2+2 Thailand 1+2 Vietnam 1+1 Indonesia 0+1 Hong Kong 0+1 Myanmar 0+1 Malaysia 0+1 India 0+1 Singapore 0+1
Poor Iraq (and Syria and Lebanon), they didnt get assessed last year and got a spot... they should have pulled the same trick this year haha It also looks like MAs dont get extra spots for AFC Cup finalists, tough luck for Al-Kuwait (although it was mentioned in one thread that they were in, or did I imagine that?!) So thats 11 in the play offs in the west, 14 in the east... will AFC move India back to the west to balance things out a little?!
2015 AFC Champions League Regulations West/East split to continue until the final (Articles 12.2.1 and 12.2.2)
Finally official AFC confirmation of CL spots have been released. Identical to those in posts #3 and #4. But it should be noted that these allocations will also hold for 2016 (although AFC have said this in previous editions, and always changed their minds!) Also, it is Iraq, Syria and Lebanon clubs that fails assessments, not the leagues themselves.
something related to the ACL Chinese participations in off season, as the CSL will have a squad limit of 30 (25+5, 25 domestic players + 5 foreigners, includes a AFC Foreigner), most of the clubs have to release 5 or 6 players from current squads (30+5 in 2014,) as a result, next season's Guangzhou Evergrande squads will only keep 7 or 8 players from ACL champions squads. recently reports indicates Guangzhou Evergrande will sign Brazil International fred on a two years contract worth USD 11m,A potential Fred-Elkeson duo could be one of the most lethal strike partnerships in Asia, never mind the CSL. while Italy player Gilardino will be transfered to Atalanta, Guangzhou Evergrande is also looking for a AFC player to replace Korean International Kim Young-Gwon. Beijing Guoan's Chinese left winger Zhang Xizhe, 23, is being targeted by Wolfsburg, according to the Bundesliga club's general manager Klaus Allofs.Beijing Guo'an had finished the transfer of Sweden player Erton Fejzullahu from Djurgårdens IF on a transfer fee of 1.08m EUR, Erton Fejzullahu was previously on loan at Guo'an. Guangzhou R&F had lost their coach and some key players to Shanghai SIPG in transfer market,Coach Sven Goran Eriksson, together with Brazilian player Davi, Korean International Jang Hyun-Soo, Chinese International Jiang Ning and Morocco International Abderrazak Hamdallah will all left Guangzhou R&F For Shanghai SIPG. Shandong Luneng Taishan is linked with Brazilian player Diego Tardelli, reports metioned he will replace Frank Love, Shandong is almost set to release Ryan Mcgowan as the club decided to sign a Korean player. CSL published total player salary of 2014 season, according to the list Guangzhou Evergrande ranked first with a total salary of 46.944 million USD, Shandong Luneng Taishan ranked second 46.618 m, Beijing Guo'an ranked third 34.067 m while Guangzhou R&F listed as 7th place 20.212 m. In terms of Total bonus of the Season in CSL matches, Beijing Guoan got 50 million RMB (8.15 million USD) which is the highest in CSL,folowed by Guangzhou Evergrande 34.5m RMB (5.62m USD) Guangzhou R&F is 5th highest with 25.5m RMB (4.16m USD),Shandong Luneng Taishan listed at 7th highest 20.5m RMB (3.34m USD)
I don't like these playoffs at all. 1. AFC have a strict criteria, that they bend when suits. 2. They tell a nation that they have 0.5 of a slot...so, good enough to be included (just), but then tell them they aren't good enough to host a game. 3.Playoffs are biased, if you play away in R1 and win, you play away in R2, R3..... thats AFC giving you a big finger 4. The losers, the real losers.....the fans. So, for example, your a big fan in Oman, then forget about ever seeing the very best come to your country for a club game....forget your dreams. You have to be a TV fan.....so watch Europe. The only way your nation gets better is by pooling into the domestic game millions..even billions of pounds or hope some other nation is on the receiving end of bad punishment... Iraq, Syria for example 5. And say, your from Sri Lanka, don't dream for football kid, stick to cricket......Yes, the old two legged games would see you get humilited by a team from Japan, but hey, you'd say to yoru dad, that Japanese winger was quick, two footed...and later in the playground re-enact him.....forget that....stick to a TV fan....watch Europe. AFC's premier competition is.....you guessed it, just for the premier/elite. I was personally drawn to the Asian game when UEFA went to far with their own CL....AFC has just mimicked it again and again and again. I thought they could be different....they aren't...The Criteria brought in in 2008/09 or whenever it was now seemed encouraging to improve standards.....it has, but has left many behind. I do prefer the AFC Cup more...and bringing the Presidents Cup to a closure and bringing the two together (even still with a few flaws) is an encouraging way....but where is the encourgament to bring the AFC Cup and ACL together....there's none.
Just looked at some of the players on the arab teams and its unbelievable how much money they pay for these big name foreign players. Thats exactly why their national teams dont improve when the foreign players in your league are 10x better than the domestic players and get all the important roles.
Can anyone tell me, is Dordoi Bishkek in it??? I thought they were, as they won the Kygyzstan League?
AFC Cup only. Kyrgyzstan only get 0.5 slot for that aswell...so playoffs they enter, drawn away to Ahal of Turkmenistan.
Al Nahda of Oman preparing for the ACL Playoffs by not turning up for a game and docked points at home. So, ACL, the world of standards/professionalism ....this is what you get! http://www.muscatdaily.com/Archive/...e-points-in-OPL-for-skipping-Dhofar-game-3ox4
I just saw Vietnam got direct spot and no spots for Kuwait. Also, I was wondering something. Does anybody know why they didn't assign same number of teams per MA's ranking position in each zone, like: MAs #1 and #2 each with 3+1 (both East and West) MAs #3 and #4 each with 2+1 MAs #5 and #6 each with 1+1 rest of MAs with only qualification spots?
That was the original plan, but some MAs failed to pass certain criteria, in addition to other factors. I have noted down changes from the original intended allocation here. Since that date, teams from IND, SIN and MAS were moved from AC prelims to AC group stage due to the small number of entrants in Eastern AC prelims.
Thanks, the second diagram there was that I thought of. Same allocation for both zones. Shame there are so many problems so teams from Middle East can't take part in these competitions.
It finally kicked off today. Warriors are the first team to qualify to next round after they defeated Yadanarbon on penalties. They will face Guangzhou RF next week in round 2.
Johor Darul Ta'zim (MAS) need extra time to overcome Bengaluru 2-1. The visitors forced extra time after scoring in the 90th minute. JDT now visit ASEAN neighbours Bangkok Glass (THA) on Tuesday. EDIT: D'oh! Druryfire beat me to it by less than a minute Full Second Qualifying Matches (All scheduled for Tuesday February 10th):