AFC Champions League
Fixture congestion in the East threatens the conclusion of the 2020 Asian Champions League
Attitudes on how to finish it, or whether to finish it at all, are very different depending on which side of Asia you happen to be in
West and East Asia tend to continue along their own separate football paths, coming together for international tournaments and not much besides. This is not surprising given that little connects them: the differences in climate, culture, language and, of course, geographical location are huge.
That division is clear to see in the AFC Champions League at the best of times. The 32 teams that enter the continental tournament are separated into two zones with the best of the west and the east only coming together for the final.
This year’s edition has, inevitably, been devastated by the coronavirus and attitudes on how to finish it, or whether to finish it at all, are very different depending on which side of Asia you happen to be in.
The major problem with the 2020 Asian Champions League when compared with the European version is that the former had only just got started when it was suspended. Some teams had played just two games of the group stage, some just once; three of the four Chinese representatives had not featured at all. That leaves a lot of football still to be played.
The games were initially put back to June but there were further postponements. In July, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said that the group stage in the western half will take place in Qatar in September. In the east, it will be in Malaysia and probably Thailand in October. After two busy weeks in which to finish the groups, the knockout rounds – with each tie reduced to a single game – will be held and it will all finish in December. Well, that is the plan at least. The AFC is understandably keen to finish its flagship club tournament but all are aware that it will be impossible if the virus bounces back. Even the best-case scenario turns impossible into difficult, and some clubs in the east are grumbling that the new schedule is going to be hard to complete.
For western teams – from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Iran – it is not a major issue. Leagues there are beginning to restart after suspension but there are just a handful of games in the season remaining. Adding the Champions League is not a huge deal.
It is not so easy, however, for the eastern leagues of South Korea, Japan and China. The 2020 Chinese Super League season only kicked off on July 25, five months after it was supposed to. The season has been shortened and the league split into two, with games being played in twin hub cities of Dalian and Suzhou. Japan restarted in early July with South Korea in action from May. It all means that the eastern clubs have plenty going on in October and November. Having three or four of them from each league heading overseas for the best part of a month to finish the Champions League group stage is going to be a headache.
And then there was the issue of 2022 World Cup qualifiers scheduled for October/November. These
games would have marked the end of the second round, which sees 12 teams head to the next stage where Asia’s four automatic berths will be allocated.
Some nations, like Japan and Australia, are almost there already but others, such as China and, to a lesser extent, South Korea still have work to do. China are almost out of the running to win their group – lagging eight points behind Syria – but still hope to qualify as one of the best runners-up, if results improve. Usually, the Chinese Super League would take a long break, perhaps as long as a month, to allow the national team to prepare.
With Champions League, World Cup qualifiers and domestic leagues, something had to give. For some Chinese clubs to play six group games in the space of two October weeks, then continue with the domestic season while also trying to give the national team a chance to keep dreams of 2022 alive, was too big an ask.
That is why, on August 12, the AFC postponed the World Cup qualifiers until 2021. It leaves 14 qualifiers as well as play-offs to be played, and there is sure to be a time when the decision to move the 2022 World Cup from June to November, controversial at the time, is welcomed for the extra breathing space.
It leaves an awful lot of football to be played in 2021 (think about Australia who have the Copa America, World Cup qualifiers and the Olympics), but it also means that there should be a winner in the 2020 Champions League.