Should the AFC reform the current Champions League and AFC Cup and establishing a third-tier competition?

The AFC Champions League and AFC Cup practiced a very absurd system unseen by other confederations across the world. With the exception of CONCACAF and OFC, it is the only confederation to expand clubs to 40 teams in both tier. The last time having such a large amount of teams happened in the UEFA Europa League 2020-21 season, the last season to feature 48 teams before the creation of the UEFA Europa Conference League, the third-tier competition of European football. And yet UEFA only limited this expansion in the Europa League, not the Champions League.

However, this system has proven to cost more than won. Instead of providing necessary revenues, the expansion has been done with little perpetration due to the ongoing plague of coronavirus pandemic. China, the most powerful nation in Asia economically, has made it difficult due to the country's strict adherence to zero-COVID, making many of these competitive games to be played with limited spectators.

What's more to say is the qualification system is horrible at the best, for all of these games are determined by just one game, rather than a systemic home-and-away format qualification, as well as its constant elimination of teams for just its failure in a single qualification. And this system is further hurt by the zonal division between West and East, making clubs unable to get enough total experience with different kind of opponents - they have, instead, only got the experiences with fellow teams from the same region with little change.

And the AFC's rigid, unreliable system of selecting clubs have deprived clubs of other countries the rights to play. This is due to to the ranking system, which is worth to blame, for intentionally exclude clubs from lesser developed nations to attract money from the economically powerful nations of Asia. Not even Africa would do that.

So what can we do now? Can we reform the AFC system? And should a third-tier club competition be established? This will be a tricky question, but that does not mean they can't do that. So, what are the tasks to reform this?

Abolishment of zonal division

The idea of dividing the Champions League and AFC Cup based on zones has reduced the level of competitiveness and making it difficult for other clubs to get taste, not until the final that teams from East and West can finally meet each other.

Thus, it's necessary to remove the zonal system. West Asian and East Asian teams can compete together right from the group stage, rather than being confined into the same place. It's better for a club from the UAE to compete against a South Korean club from the group stage, or a Thai team to play in the desert of Saudi Arabia against a team from Saudi Arabia.

This should be applied to the qualification phase, too. Quality of clubs should be seen by their ability to overcome adverse environments and embracing diversity, instead of just sitting duck in the same West-West, East-East encounters.

Qualification restructure

Once you have removed the zonal division, it's up for us to apply the home-and-away qualification format. Instead of deciding by just one game, it is necessary for clubs to have two games to decide who is better. Clubs should be given opportunities to become better and better by playing more games rather than one.

Having the home-and-away format one side, it's also necessary to have clubs that lost the Champions League qualifiers to redeem itself. Current format of Champions League qualifiers have been cruel, as clubs that fail in ACL will not be able to compete for the AFC Cup either. Instead of eliminating them immediately, losers of ACL qualifiers should be relegated to AFC Cup or AFC Cup qualification to have their opportunities to grow or to win another continental trophy.

A random final

Currently, the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup both organise in the same way of two-legged final format. Instead of just making two legged, exhausting travelling finals, it's better for the AFC to select a random location for the final of both ACL and AFC Cup.

I suggest the word "random" rather than "neutral", due to the controversies happened during the 2022 CAF Champions League Final, as CAF's use of "neutral location" has resulted in the complainment by Egyptian outfit Al Ahly, which lost to the Moroccan rival Wydad in Wydad's home stadium Mohammed V in Casablanca. Al Ahly stated that by awarded Wydad's stadium the rights to host the final, CAF had violated the "neutral law", and CAF immediately abolished the single final format and returned to the very exhausting two-legged final. To avoid this mistake, AFC must make "random" location the key of surprise element to force the other to prepare for the better. Being "random", rather than neutral, mean every stadium can host, as long as they meet separate quotas.

And also, a single stadium for the ACL final must at least have more than 50,000 seats, while for the AFC Cup must have more than 40,000 seats, as the mean to meet the criteria.

A third-tier continental club championship

AFC has nearly 50 countries and yet with just two premier continental club tournaments is a shame. This is something UEFA and CAF have been moving with a new competition. With UEFA founding the Conference League as third-tier, CAF is moving with its Super League (not to be confused with Florentino Perez's failed Super League project) - albeit it is planned to become the eventual first-tier in an unknown future, relegating the Confederation Cup to third one.

The problem is unlike CONMEBOL, OFC or CONCACAF, which present only as low as 10 to just as high as 30, the AFC has struggled to provide a different vision despite the numerous number of members in the organisation. If AFC can create a third-tier competition instead of wasting time expanding to no avail, it should have a third-tier competition for weaker nations to send clubs to compete.

A third tier tournament, akin to ACL and AFC Cup, needs to be established, if AFC wants to strengthen football in Asia. The motto cannot come with emptiness.

Restructuring the Champions League and Cup

AFC Champions League and AFC Cup should return to the old format of 32 clubs with eight teams. Expanding 40 teams, while having a stronger continental impact, it has failed to address the failure to reform from the structure. With a lame qualification structure that does not provide any entertainment, and an exhausting group stage system of 40 teams, expanding is worthless and the same old issues will rise. Moreover, due to the nature of necessary competitiveness, it makes no sense to expand to 40 teams at all, because it limits the chance for teams finishing second to progress, which is not to advocate for.

Reverting to 32 teams in both the structure of AFC Cup and AFC Champions League will surely guarantee a fair level of competition and will not alienate second-placed teams. Adding with the fact a third-tier AFC club tournament may also act as another opportunity, this will allow clubs to dedicate time and resource to realise the opportunities to play at the highest level of Asian football.

Can it be achieved?

Unfortunately, it is not that easy to do.

The biggest issue is logistics. Flights from Sydney to Riyadh, for example, may take over a day, and this is extremely difficult for the schedule of Asian club competitions. This makes travelling sides exhausted to even think about playing football if they cannot get relaxation on time.

Meanwhile, there is another issue related to politics. Various nations have hostile relations to one another, and can affect negatively to the travel of these teams. Iran-Saudi Arabia conflict since 2010s has prevented Iranian clubs from hosting home games to face Saudi clubs. It's not clear if Iran can ever host Saudi clubs visiting, although Saudi Arabia has agreed to welcome Iranian teams during COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea's unusual structure and its isolation also prevents it from hosting major Asian tournament. Due to the violence inside Myanmar following the coup in 2021, the country has been excluded from hosting and its clubs will have to find the way to compete. Afghanistan, due to Taliban's return, has been deprived of almost everything, even football, not even its team can compete under the current violent conditions. Not to say civil wars in Syria and Yemen, unstable situations in Iraq and Palestine, and the economic calamities in Sri Lanka and Lebanon, have affected the organisation of these tournaments. Growing tensions between China and other fellow Asian members (Australia, Japan, India and Taiwan) can also become another potential danger, though it is yet to come true. Just take the lesson of Russian invasion of Ukraine alone, Russia was completely banned from participating in European tournaments and was disqualified from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

These issues alone have become a big problem. If addressing logistical concerns maybe a little easy, then expecting stability in volatile Asia can be challenging. From war-torn Syria to coup-affected Myanmar, the feeling of security has been poorly met, and this can dissuade people from investing.

However, there is no doubt that, a necessary attempt must be taken. It's a must to make club football in Asia more competitive. Therefore, these reforms are definitely worth envisioning for time ahead.