AFC boosts its competitiveness with major changes to season calendar and foreign player rules

By Paul Nicholson

November 30 – The AFC has taken major steps to opening up its club competitions with a relaxation of foreign player rules and a realignment of its calendar which will switch from the calendar year to the European model of playing from Autumn to Spring.

It is a significant evolution designed to help its biggest club teams and its leading national teams become more competitive in international competition.

“We are looking to help our biggest teams and nations. We need them to challenge the rest of the world, to push them up,” said AFC general secretary Dato’ Windsor John.

The current 3+1 Foreign Player rule – a club can field a maximum of four international players (three players of any nationality and one from an AFC Member Association) – is set to make way for one of three combinations that will be decided on in early 2022 for implementation from 2023 onwards.

All three combinations – 4+2 or 5+1 or 5+2 – have received wide support from both the AFC Competitions Committee and the AFC Technical Committee, said the AFC.

The thinking for the change is that by opening up recruitment to more overseas players, the clubs will raise their standards and those of the local players. The current rule, while it protects local players and provides opportunity, has not necessarily improved competitive standards. With the AFC’s competitions increasingly being viewed by global audiences, a greater diversity in playing nationalities will be similarly welcomed.

The obvious example in the AFC region of foreign players boosting local standards without harming local players has been Saudi Arabia who operate with a cap of seven international players. The Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal currently hold the AFC Champions League title, while their national team is dominating its final World Cup 2022 qualifying group.

As a first step the AFC has removed the 3+1 ceiling on the number of Foreign Players allowed for the Preliminary Registration in the 2022 season, paving the way for any number of Foreign Players to be registered based on the domestic league registration rules. The AFC has also increased the maximum number of players in the Preliminary Registration was from 30 to 35.

Calendar shift

Perhaps more revolutionary and of more importance for the AFC’s leading national teams is the decision to swich the competition calendar to match the European one, starting in Autumn and running across the year end to Spring.

This will allow the senior nations who have key players overseas to dovetail their national team commitments with their club seasons in the same way the European nations are able to.

It will also allow a greater synchronisation of transfer windows and improved chances for Asian clubs to sign better players, as well as providing a more even distribution of club matches over the year to maintain a balance with National Team matches.

The AFC said that there is an accompanying commercial benefit “for AFC Champions League and AFC Cup matches in terms of TV audiences and media interest with respect to the calendar structures of UEFA club competitions and European leagues.”

The AFC this season has already expanded its Champions League from 32 to 40 teams.

Earlier this month AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: “I am pleased to note that the AFC competitions continue to grow. There will be changes to the rules on foreign players, as well as to our competitions calendar. These are all part of the strategy to improve our players, clubs and national teams on the world stage.”

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1711628153labto1711628153ofdlr1711628153owedi1711628153sni@n1711628153osloh1711628153cin.l1711628153uap1711628153


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