They've never before ranked that many nations leagues, or at least gone on record to say they have so where they have this 23 from - obviously just plucked a number from the current nations playing ACL & AFC Cup. The only other rankings they have are FIFA rankings which are just for national teams. Surely they can't just say this will suffice for club football?
They probably did. I am just guessing that this is just a random number and that we wont exactly know how many nations will have a chance to compete till the Executive Board agree to this. For me, ideally, I would like the AFC to create a UEFA coefficient but instead of just basing it on the on-field performance in Asian competitions also base it on the overall structure of the league so there is some incentive to improve the league. I say this because I look at India and the fact that some steps are being taken since we were rejected from the Champions League. Air India and ONGC (PSU's) being expelled for example.
I agree, a weighted score on all clubs and national leagues both on and off, but on field result should have a higher weight then off-field matters.
I would agree to that seeing as the clubs that qualify are usually the ones who are ahead of the majority of their league on and off the field.
AFC meeting tomorrow to discuss ACL expansion THE Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee is set to meet in Bahrain for the first time tomorrow. The meeting will be chaired by AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa. It will take place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Spa and it will start at 4pm. Around 20 of the highest-ranking football officials from across the continent will be attending the gathering. Many important issues are to be discussed at the meeting, including the expansion of the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup competitions, and other important issues relating to the future of football. The meeting will be the second chaired by Shaikh Salman since he was elected as the new AFC president in May. The next meeting of the AFC executive committee will be held in Kuala Lumpur in November later this year. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=357651
Pakistan asking for a change http://www.footballpakistan.com/2013/08/lutfi-wants-change-in-asias-club-football-structure-dawn/
I agree with they said in that article. On a side note... was there anything announced from the meeting held in Bahrain last month?
No. I actually think the Bahraini press was wrong or hyped it up for their Bahraini readers as the only news I heard to come out was regional competitions such as the Gulf Cup for Olympic teams and Gulf Club Championship which QFA (Qatar) reported on.
But small countries like Macau and Brunei have amateur leagues only. Spending the manpower and expense on ranking them, knowing that they don't meet the criteria and they have no intention to play in the ACL, makes little sense to me. They should just rank those countries that would like to be ranked.
It's that kind of attitude from the AFC which makes you shake your head though. They have regional bodies, EAFF , who could surely do a report on such nations at least and say hey. These nations are amatuer, thye don't want ACL football, but can they put forward the proposal you've mentioned previously. Bridge that gap and get a regional league going. Also, look at DPMM of Brunei. They have gone from Malaysia to Singapore, has AFC ever asked why they move around? Yes, they can look and say Brunei is small country, must be poor league, but have they ever bothered to look and give assistance and even say if DPMM qualify for AFC competition through whichever league they are in, then they can represent Brunei at continental level? A few years ago, AFC would never have thought about going to Myanmar, look whats happened in such a short space of time. Chinese Taipei, a club won the Presidents Cup, but what since? Football going stale, no assistance. Of course, some nations rightly so don't want to be part of the ACL, but AFC identified 23 nations based on what? Some nations will miss out, such as Pakistan, when they want to be ranked, but AFC won't even do it.
I think FIFA, as well as, if not more than, AFC need to look into the "small country problem". They keep asking countries to set up professional national leagues, but keep ignoring the small countries that cannot make it work and just let them slide down the scale.
Bahrain looking to get into Playoffs BAHRAIN could soon be represented in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League. This was announced yesterday at a Press conference at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) headquarters in Riffa, attended by AFC Competitions Division research and support services head Steve Kim and BFA vice-president for technical affairs Ali Al Buainain. Kim has been heading a Special Mission Team (SMT) from the AFC visiting the kingdom the past week to assess the possibility of a Bahraini club playing in the AFC Champions League. Kim revealed yesterday that this is very much possible, although certain criteria still have to be met within the coming few weeks in order for a Bahraini outfit to be fully eligible to compete in the continent's top club competition. Kim told the GDN that three main factors first need to be met before being assessed as eligible. The first is being ranked among the top 23 in the continent, the second is having an 'A' class stadium to play in, and the third is to have an AFC club licence. The first two criteria have already been met, but since Bahrain does not have a professional league, none of its clubs has an AFC club licence. This obstacle, however, can be overcome with an extraordinary application from the BFA on behalf of the club. "After all these requirements are met, the AFC will make a decision on whether Bahrain can get a slot in the 2014 AFC Champions League play-offs," said Kim. The play-offs act as a qualifying tournament for the main competition. All the requirements must be submitted to the AFC by October 7. A decision will be made by the last week of November. Kim noted that Bahrain's two clubs that have a best chance of meeting the requirements and possibly competing in next year's play-offs are defending champions Busaiteen and His Majesty the King's Cup holders Muharraq. According to BFA acting general secretary Hassan Ismail, Busaiteen and Muharraq were among five teams recommended by the BFA to be assessed by the SMT during their visit. The others were Riffa, Hidd and Manama. The BFA were also asked to identify four possible locations to hold top-level AFC Champions League matches, and thus the visiting SMT paid visits to the National Stadium in Riffa, Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town, Muharraq Club Stadium in Arad and Al Ahli Club Stadium in Mahooz. Kim said that finding an 'A' class match venue in Bahrain was not a problem. "Bahrain should be very happy about their situation," he explained. "There are very good facilities in this country. "In some places you have the people, the knowledge, the experience and commitment to make things happen, but no resources. "Here, you have plenty of resources and very good support from the Bahrain Olympic Committee and the Bahrain FA, and the people are starting to get the knowledge and experience. "This does not usually happen in the course of one year. Usually it takes one to two or even four years, but right now Bahrain is in a very good place." Kim told the GDN that having a team represent Bahrain in the AFC Champions League would be of great benefit to the game in the kingdom. "Competition-wise, the AFC Champions League gives the club a chance to compete against the highest-standard teams in the continent," Kim said. "Teams and players can gain a lot of experience from this type of competition, and it will help in the overall development of the game in the country. "Second, they can see how the game is played in other regions of Asia, such as if a Bahrain team play against a Japan team or Korea team. "Third, there would be a great financial benefit. It would generate great value for the club and for the national association as well." http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=361592 NOTE: Sorry for the long post but this website has a history of losing it's content within days!
Ofcourse. The AFC President is from Bahrain, so they will 'somehow' get into the Champions League. I hope that Iraq can get into the CL again
OPL is an excellent setup: AFC Indication in this article that Oman will enter one side for the playoff stage in 2014. http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-23148.aspx
Old news... Nonetheless, I would not bet my life savings on the AFC Champions League having teams from 23 countries next season. This season was meant to have 16, but with the AFC making up rules and regulations up to the last minute, only 10 were allowed to send teams. On a side note, there has been some match fixing in Australia. The games in question are state league matches, not associated with the A-League, but are overseen by the FFA. What this means for Australia's rating remains to be seen.
Agree with Fridge here. This IS NOT new news. So, what was generally said in March can have a hell of a turn over come November. Australia, like he has said has had a match fixing issue, even though it is not A-League, it should somewhat be put on record, as no doubt any other nation would be put on record - but then again AFC need Australia, so turn a blind eye. But, the last few months, coming up the latest allocation released from the AFC tells us what? The AFC will entertain the top 23 nations - why 23, is anyones guess really. Oman and Bahrain through their state media have given us some information as to where they stand - they expect to be part of the play off system. I assume a bigger playoff system, but then my memory says Lianong of China didn't want to play playoffs for AFC Cup a few years back, so these playoffs can only be for nations ranked, for example 12-23??? Pakistan - the good news website www.footballpakistan.com has news reports of Pakistan wanting to enter ACL, of course they won't be in this time, but why not? How to progress if not allowed in? Let them in, let them get humbled, let them have the AFC Cup as a back drop. And then on to Kuwait. Al Kuwait won the AFC Cup for the 2nd year running tonight. 3rd title in total. Shorely time to allow them to enter again? Yes, the AFC want leagues that have pro/rel and a lot of other things on the agenda, but some nations, and Kuwait as an example, are too small, but are good enough to be playing at the highest level.
read earlier posts, join the discussion. This is not new news.... been reported since March. Please discuss further.