2023–24 AFC Champions League

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
Jump to navigation Jump to search
2023–24 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
DatesQualifying:
8–22 August 2023
Competition proper:
18 September 2023 – 18 May 2024
TeamsCompetition proper: 40
Total (maximum): 55 (from 24 or 25 associations)
← 2022
2024–25 →

The 2023–24 AFC Champions League will be the 42nd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 21st under the current AFC Champions League title.

This season is the first to have an inter-year schedule from September (autumn-to-spring) instead of an intra-year schedule (spring-to-autumn) since the 2002–03 season.[1] This edition sees an increase in numbers of preliminary players with 35 players able to be registered; teams will be able to field six foreign players in games, where one of these players must still be from another Asian nation.

The winners of the tournament will automatically qualify for the 2024–25 AFC Champions League, entering at the qualifying play-off stage, if they have not already qualified through their domestic performance.[2]

Association team allocation

The 47 AFC member associations are ranked based on their clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions (their national team's FIFA World Rankings no longer considered).[3] The slots are allocated by the following criteria according to the Entry Manual:[4]

  • The associations are split into two regions (Article 3.1):
  • The top 12 associations in each region are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League.
  • In each region, there are five groups in the group stage, including 16 direct slots, with the 4 remaining slots filled through qualifying play-offs (Article 3.2). The slots in each region are distributed as follows:[5][6]
    • The associations ranked 1st and 2nd are each allocated three direct slots and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 3rd and 4th are each allocated two direct slots and two play-off slots.
    • The associations ranked 5th are each allocated one direct slot and two play-off slots.
    • The associations ranked 6th are each allocated one direct slot and one play-off slot.
    • The associations ranked 7th to 10th are each allocated one direct slot.
    • The associations ranked 11th and 12th are each allocated one play-off slot.
  • The AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders are each allocated one play-off slot should they not qualify for the tournament through domestic performance (Article 3.6). The following rules are applied:
    • If the AFC Champions League title holders or AFC Cup title holders are from associations ranked 1st to 6th, their association is allocated the same number of play-off slots, and they replace the lowest-seeded team from their association. Otherwise, their association is allocated one additional play-off slot, and they do not replace any team from their association (Articles 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10).
    • If both the AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders are from the same association which is allocated only one play-off slot, their association is allocated one additional play-off slot, and only the lowest-seeded team from their association is replaced as a result (Article 3.11).
    • The AFC Champions League title holders and AFC Cup title holders are the lowest-seeded teams in the qualifying play-offs if they do not replace any team from their association (Article 3.12).
  • If any association ranked 1st to 6th do not fulfill any one of the AFC Champions League criteria, they have all their direct slots converted into play-off slots. The direct slots given up are redistributed to the highest eligible association by the following criteria (Articles 3.13 and 3.14):
    • For each association, the maximum number of total slots is four and the maximum number of direct slots is three (Articles 3.4 and 3.5).
    • If any association ranked 3rd to 6th is allocated one additional direct slot, one play-off slot is annulled and not redistributed.
    • If any association ranked 5th to 6th is allocated two additional direct slots, one play-off slot is annulled and not redistributed.
  • If any association ranked 7th to 10th do not fulfill any one of the AFC Champions League criteria, they have their direct slot converted into play-off slot. The direct slot given up is redistributed to the next association ranked 11th or 12th, whose play-off slot is annulled and not redistributed, or if neither are eligible, the highest eligible association by the same criteria as mentioned above (Articles 3.16 and 3.17).
  • If any association with only play-off slot(s), including any association ranked 11th to 12th or those mentioned above, do not fulfill the minimum AFC Champions League criteria, the play-off slot(s) are annulled and not redistributed (Articles 3.19 and 3.20).
  • For each association, the maximum number of total slots is one-third of the total number of eligible teams (excluding foreign teams) in the top division (Article 3.4). If this rule is applied, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.10).
  • All participating teams must be granted an AFC Champions League license, and apart from cup winners, finish in the top half of their top division (Articles 7.1 and 9.5). If any association do not have enough teams which satisfy this criteria, any direct slots given up are redistributed by the same criteria as mentioned above, and play-off slots are annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.9).
  • If any team granted a license refuses to participate, their slot, either direct or play-off, is annulled and not redistributed (Article 9.11).

Association ranking

For the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, the associations are allocated slots according to their AFC Club Competitions Ranking which was published on 24 November 2021,[7][8][9] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup during the period between 2018 and 2021 and their domestic league.[a]

Participation for 2023–24 AFC Champions League
Participating
Not participating

Teams

In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count only those since the 2002–03 season (including qualifying rounds), when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.

Note: Only teams assured of a place are displayed.[b]

Standby Qualifying play-off participants
Team Qualifying method App. (last)
2022 AFC Champions League winners
Notes
  1. ^ The 2020 season is not included in the overall ranking due to the cancellation of the remaining matches in the 2020 AFC Cup caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ^ If the AFC Champions league winners are from top associations and have not qualified through their domestic performance, they will replace the lowest-seeded team from their association.
  1. ^
    South Korea (KOR): Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors was already qualified as the 2022 K League 1 runners-up when they won the 2022 Korean FA Cup. Thus, third-placed Pohang Steelers qualified directly to the group stage, while the fourth-placed Incheon United qualified to the qualifying play-offs.
  2. ^
    Singapore (SIN): Albirex Niigata (S), the 2022 Singapore Premier League champions, are a team from Japan and thus ineligible to represent Singapore in AFC club competitions. As a result, Lion City Sailors, the Singapore Premier League runners-up, qualified for the Champions League.
  3. ^
    Thailand (THA): Due to the change of the competition date to autumn–spring format, the Thai League has decided to split their 2+2 quota to take 1+1 over the next two seasons. This means that only the winners of the 2021–22 Thai League 1 and the winners of the 2022–23 Thai League 1 will qualify directly to the group stage, while the winners of the 2021–22 Thai FA Cup and the winners of the 2022–23 Thai FA Cup will qualify for the qualifying play-off. As the 2021–22 Thai League 1 champions Buriram United also won the 2021–22 Thai FA Cup, the slot reserved for the cup winners of 2021–22 season will go to the season's league runners-up BG Pathum United.[10]
  4. ^
    To-be confirmed (TBC): Due to the change of the competition date to autumn–spring format, these nations will have two domestic seasons completed before the competition starts. They are expected to announce their own slot allocation method for the competition, but haven't confirmed it yet.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.[11]

Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary stage Preliminary round 1 No draw 8 August 2023
Preliminary round 2 15 August 2023
Play-off stage Play-off round 22 August 2023
Group stage Matchday 1 TBD 18–20 September 2023
Matchday 2 2–4 October 2023
Matchday 3 23–25 October 2023
Matchday 4 6–8 November 2023
Matchday 5 27–29 November 2023
Matchday 6 11–13 December 2023
Knockout stage Round of 16 12–14 February 2024 19–21 February 2024
Quarter-finals TBD 4–6 March 2024 11–13 March 2024
Semi-finals 16–17 April 2024 23–24 April 2024
Final 11 May 2024 18 May 2024

Group stage

Main article: 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage

See also

References

  1. ^ "AFC Executive Committee unveils dynamic enhancements to the AFC Club Competitions". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  2. ^ "More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  3. ^ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking Mechanics". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.
  4. ^ "Entry Manual for AFC Club Competitions (2021 Edition)". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.
  5. ^ "More Member Associations to benefit from inclusive AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Four Thailand clubs in AFC Champions League 2021; Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore also get group stage entry – Reports". Fox Sports Asia. 4 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Slot allocation for AFC Champions League and AFC Cup 2023 confirmed". AFC.
  8. ^ a b c "AFC Club Competitions Ranking". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation.
  9. ^ "AFC Country Ranking 2021". FootyRankings. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  10. ^ TL Central (21 May 2022). "Thai League decides to split the 2+2 quota to take 1+1 over the next two seasons". Twitter. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Schedule for new club competitions' seasons confirmed". AFC. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=2023–24_AFC_Champions_League&oldid=1119627512"