February 3 – The AFC Executive Committee has set up a dedicated AFC Professional Football Task Force to oversee the changes in the region’s club initiated by the AFC Competitions Committee last year.
“The new AFC Executive Committee (pictured) has today underlined its intention to further accelerate our positive football journey,” said AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.
“We have already signalled our ambitions to elevate Asian club football to new heights and the setting-up of the AFC Professional Football Task Force is a timely step in the right direction following the approval of strategic reforms to the AFC’s club competitions late last year.”
The AFC is undertaking a major revision of its men’s club competitions as it injects a more competitive foundation into its flagship Champions League and AFC Cup, both likely to be renamed as part of the new three-tier structure.
The new format will see the AFC’s top clubs compete against each other more frequently and in a more intense competition environment and is planned to be introduced for the 2024-25 season.
Currently the AFC has 76 participating clubs qualifying across two tiers of club competitions. Under the new format the clubs will be divided into three tiers with the top tier comprised of 24 clubs in total, divided into 12 teams in each of the West and East regions competing in a league format.
The new structure is a transitioning from a five-zone format to a focus on East and West enabling the top teams to face each other more frequently.
As well as a restructure of the AFC’s club competitions the new formats come with a package of other changes including more money for clubs and a change in foreign player regulations.
The AFC said that the changes are “perhaps the most significant reforms to be introduced since the enhancements to the AFC Champions League in 2009.”
The AFC said that the “AFC Professional Football Task Force is mandated with offering guidance and steering the wide-ranging reforms towards enhancing technical performance, driving greater commercial value, and further enriching the Asian football fan experience.”
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