AFC Champions League
Eastern section of the competition has some catching up to do
Asia is so big that the AFC Champions League is split into two geographic zones with the best teams from each meeting only in the final. The western half has already produced its finalist, but Iran’s Persepolis will have to wait until midDecember to find out their opponents from the east.
The spread of the coronavirus caused the group stage to be suspended in March, and then again in June and August. The western zone finally restarted in September in Qatar. The 2022 World Cup host was selected as a “bio-secure” hub where the rest of the group games and the knockout stages (all reduced to a single leg) could take place as free as possible from the effects of COVID-19. It wasn’t that free however. Right from the start, the virus made its presence felt. United Arab Emirates club Al Wahda could not even make the trip to Doha from Abu Dhabi after a player tested positive. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) refused a request to postpone and the club had to withdraw.
A much bigger issue was the outbreak at Al Hilal. The Saudi Arabian giants and defending champions arrived in Qatar with little fuss, but then saw players and officials continually test positive – there were over 30 in total by the end.
Even with the AFC allowing late replacement goalkeepers to be drafted in, the Riyadh team could only field nine men in the final group game against Shabab Al Ahli of Dubai. That didn’t seem to be a huge problem as Al Hilal had already secured passage to the last 16 and so were happy to forfeit the dead rubber, take the 3-0 defeat and progress to the next round. If the AFC could also give them an extra day or two to get players back for the knockout stage then everything could continue as normal.
Once again however, the AFC was having none of it and forced the team to withdraw. Al Hilal, chasing a record fourth continental championship, were angry, submitting a formal protest and releasing a lengthy statement criticising the confederation, as the club were “facing exceptional circumstances that required greater flexibility from the AFC.”
With the governing body saying that the schedule must be maintained, there was some sympathy for the champions given that the West Asian group stage was around two months ahead of its eastern counterpart. With most western teams in between domestic seasons, Al Hilal felt that there was enough time to get everything sorted and continue.
With the champions out of the picture, the western knockout stage continued with Al Sadd of Qatar the new favourites. Yet head coach Xavi, midfield maestro Santi Cazorla and a host of Qatari and South Korean internationals were knocked out by Persepolis. The well-organised Iranian giants made it to the semi-final, meeting Al Nassr. The Saudis were looking good with new signing Pity Martinez – an $18 million arrival from Atlanta United in August – starting to click with his new team-mates, especially Moroccan goal machine Abderrazzak Hamdallah.
Yet Al Nassr too fell foul of the hard-working Tehranians in the semi-final and lost in a penalty shoot-out.
Persepolis will have to wait until December 13 to find out their final opponents. Travel restrictions and quarantines in the east mean that teams from the opposite end of the continent will come to Qatar in mid-November, with one staying in Doha until a week before Christmas to play the final.
Pushing the games back to November will help some teams more than others. South Korea’s hopefuls will have finished their domestic seasons ten days before the restart and the timing should suit them. Chinese clubs have less time and more games to play in Qatar, while Japan’s representatives will have to find a way to take on Asian opponents while finishing the J.League back home.
Australian teams will not yet have started the new season down under with Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory having the perfect chance to warm-up for their new campaign.
There are concerns even among eastern teams however that if they go all the way to the final and then spend two weeks in quarantine on their return home, it will not just be a tough six weeks away, but will also eat into preparation for the new season.
It is probably good for Persepolis, who can just sit back and watch while rivals tire themselves out. The Iranian team have never won the Champions League and would love nothing more than to lift the trophy. The AFC would love nothing more than to just finish this tournament almost a year after it started.
The western half has already produced its finalist, but Iran’s Persepolis will have to wait until mid-December to find out their opponents