The 2021 AFC Champions League Quarterfinals began in Saudi Arabia and South Korea on October 16-17, marking a battle between the West and East Asian regions. For the first time since 2010, the Chinese Super League team failed to reach the quarterfinals, and domestic interest in the AFC Champions League has fallen to a record low. This phenomenon seems to have some kind of inevitable connection with the end of the "Golden Dollar Era" of the national soccer team, but of course the impact of the epidemic can not be ignored. However, the Chinese Super League teams are facing a practical problem: how to deal with the AFC Champions League next season? The reporter has learned from the AFC, the arrangement of next season's AFC Champions League will be basically the same as this year.
Conference system to continue next season
With the AFC Champions League celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2022, the AFC had expected the tournament to return to full normalcy with a return to the home-and-away system. However, the reality of the epidemic has forced the AFC to continue with the tournament system. It has been reported that the AFC's competition department discussed the arrangements for next season's AFC Champions League with member associations in the East and West Asian regions through online meetings last month and earlier this month.
Based on the successful experience of the 2020 and 2021 AFC Champions League, the AFC Competitions Department, in consultation with the Emergency Committee, has made the following recommendation in light of the Asia-wide outbreak situation: the 2022 AFC Champions League will be the last time that the centralized match system will be used for the group stage, and the home and away system will be fully restored in 2023. Considering that next season's World Cup will kick off in mid-November, and in order to give Asian teams sufficient time to prepare for the World Cup, the AFC Champions League next season will be brought forward to end in October, instead of late November as in the past. In order to shorten the journey of the tournament, the knockout stages will be played in a single-leg knockout system instead of a home-and-away system, but there will be no centralized tournament system for the quarterfinals and semifinals as there was this year.
Based on the above principles, the AFC Competition Department has also come up with the approximate timing of the matches. For the East Asia Region, the first round, second round qualifiers and third round play-offs will be held on March 1, 8 and 15 respectively. Because the Chinese Super League teams to compete in the AFC Champions League next season is still "3 +1", this year's Chinese Super League third place will directly participate in the third round of playoffs on March 15, and enjoy home field advantage. This will not affect the final two rounds of the 12-team tournament next season on March 24th and 29th. The AFC has scheduled the qualifiers and play-offs for the AFC Champions League in early to mid-March to avoid clashes with the Top 12. Of course, if a national team adopts a long-term training program, the AFC will have no control over it.
East Asia Region group stage is initially scheduled to open on April 15 or 16, to April 30 or May 1 end, lasting half a month to complete six rounds of matches. While the first round of qualifiers for the West Asia Region will be held on March 15 next season, followed by making way for the 12-team tournament, the second round of qualifiers and the third round of additional matches are scheduled for April 5 and 19 next season; the group stage will start from May 11 or 12 to May 26 or 27 to complete the tournament.
