July 5 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has switched the format of the Asian Champions League knockout phase to single leg ties because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Taking into consideration the existing uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the ongoing travel restrictions imposed across the Continent, the AFC Executive Committee agreed that it was essential to minimise the travel frequency of the participating clubs, while underlining its continued commitment towards ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all players, teams, officials and key stakeholders,” said an AFC statement.
This is the second time the AFC has had to reorganise the home and away format for the knock-out rounds. All of the quarter-finals and semi-finals will now take place in October in one centralised venue for the east and west zone respectively. The final will be played on November 23, again in a single leg format with a venue still to be decided.
The AFC has opened up a bidding process for the centralised hosting.
Under greater threat from the pandemic is the AFC Cup, the second of the AFC’s club competitions with a number of nations whose football infrastructure is not as well developed as many of the clubs from the bigger nations in the Champions League.
The AFC said it anticipates “further challenges” with the schedule of the competition and that while it is maintaining the overall structure it has now provided that “the matches across all stages which cannot be played due to matters arising from the COVID-19 pandemic will be cancelled and that such cancellations will be recognised as an event of Force Majeure.”
The impact is not just on the 2021 season but also on 2022. Taking into account the uncertainty of the public health situation in the region, the AFC has looked further ahead and decided that the 2022 AFC Champions League and AFC Cup seasons will continue to be played in centralised venues, with the Knockout Stages also following the single-leg format of the current edition of both club competitions.
In April, the group stage in the west zone concluded with Al Hilal, Persepolis and Esteghlal among the clubs to progress to the next round. The east zone group stage will be wrapped up this month with the start of the knockout phase slated for September. Last season’s finalist Ulsan Hyundai and Nagoya have already booked their tickets for the round of sixteen.
Last year, the champions league had to be halted for six months before Doha, Qatar, staged the reminder of the competition with knockout stage matches in a single-leg format.
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