The AFC：Doing it all over again

The Asian Football Confederation is holding its annual meetings in Kuala Lumpar and once again it seems they are playing around with the number of spots China will have in the Asian Champions League. While China was expected to only get three automatic ACL spots and one play-in spot, that number is likely to be four automatic spots, meaning Guizhou Renhe won’t need to go through the play-in game.

This has yet to be officially finalized and also depends on whether the AFC decides to place Uzbekhistan in eastern or western Asia. As it stands, Japan, Korea, and China would all get four automatic spots, Australia would get three, Thailand would get two, and Singapore would get one. Also, one team each from Australia, Thailand, and Singapore would be included in the play-in to earn a ACL spot.

The AFC is also considering changing the number of foreigners allowed in the ACL, bumping the number up from the current 3+1 rule (3 foreign players and 1 Asian foreign player) to a 3+2 or even 3+3 scenario. This would be an interesting adjustment, most likely leading to even more Australians ending up overseas.

Then again, we’re talking about the AFC here and none of these decisions are final, expect even more changes to come over the next few days, though a final decision is expected soon.