It's time for Southeast Asia to get some more Champions League love

5 hours ago
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John Duerden
@https://twitter.com/@JohnnyDuerden
TOPICS
AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, JOHOR DARUL TA'ZIM, MUANGTHONG UNITED, SHANGHAI SIPG, UEFA, A-LEAGUE, GAMBA OSAKA
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This week's AFC Champions League playoff between Muangthong United and Johor Darul Ta'zim was worthy of the tournament proper. John Duerden argues it's time for Southeast Asia to have more involvement in the region's premier club competition.
Two hours before kick-off on Tuesday there was excitement in the sweet air on the northern outskirts of Bangkok. By the time the game started at the home of Muangthong United, the fans in red in the Yamaha Ultras Stand were in full voice.
Korea is the most successful country in terms of Asian titles yet has perhaps the least interest in the tournament
Then in the far corner there were the massed ranks of the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) faithful who worked as hard as their players over 120 minutes of football that was all high-intensity, high-energy and, mostly, high-quality. This was a big game with a big atmosphere, a proper football frenzy of the like that is not seen in the Asian Champions League often enough.
But this was not the Asian Champions League. It wasn't even a playoff for the tournament itself, but merely a step to the next stage. Two of the biggest teams in Southeast Asia were taking part in a sudden-death elimination match for the right to travel to China to face the very big-spending Shanghai SIPG.
It is unfortunate for JDT that they will not be in the Asian Champions League (and as AFC Cup holders they really should be) after losing on penalties. It is unfortunate for Muangthong that their continental ambitions will almost certainly be ended by Sven Goran Eriksson's team of stars.
It is also unfortunate for Asian football in general that such an atmosphere will not now be seen in the continent's main competition. This tournament needs such nights of passion and excitement, especially when the so-called bigger teams from the better leagues can't always be counted on to provide them.
While UEFA allocates slots in its flagship competition based on results on the pitch, the AFC carves up the Asian tournament's 32 spots depending on what goes on off the pitch. According to the organisation, the 2016 allocations were decided on the basis of three criteria.
Namely “the AFC Member Associations Ranking 2014, the AFC Champions League Criteria and the Club License of the clubs eligible to participate in the most prestigious club competition in Asia”. Basically, the better organised and more professional the AFC thinks the league is, the more points it hands out. Points mean places.
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Muangthong received a hero's welcome after scraping through the shootout
There has been an expansion of sorts in the past two or three years but it doesn't amount to much. Overall, 17 countries enter the competition but only 11 are sure of a group stage spot. Of the 16 teams that will make up the eastern half of the draw it is likely that there will be four each for Korea and Japan, with six divided up by Australia and China. It doesn't leave much for anyone else.
The playoffs have grown but even here the odds are rigged in favour of the favourites. If you are from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore or India then if you make the final stage, there is a tough one-off away game at the home of a team from South Korea, Japan, China and Australia. It would be a major surprise if even one of these four hosts failed to make it through. Two legs would be tough enough but just the one far from home is more than double the challenge.
Korea is the most successful country in terms of Asian titles yet ironically, the country has perhaps the least interest in the tournament. Games are often not even televised and good luck to the football fan who wants to see a K-League team getting Asian action during the baseball season.
The general public cares almost not a jot, while fans and media usually don't get excited until the very latter stages. Japan can also take the tournament for granted. There will be plenty of empty seats in East Asia when the football starts.
It would be a major sacrifice for Japan and Korea to have 'only' three representatives in order to give other countries more of a chance. This is not to say that Malaysian sides would be close to winning the group but a little down the line, with a little experience and knowhow, things can change.
It wasn't that long ago that Chinese teams were also-rans. It took Buriram United, a Thai team that finished level on group points with eventual semi-finalists Gamba Osaka last season and reached the last eight in 2013, time to settle and if the big boys still think the others are not up to it, they would do well to remember that there were similar opinions voiced about Asian teams at the World Cup until not that long ago.
The experience would be valuable for the Southeast Asians but more representation from that region would have other benefits too. Clubs like JDT and Muangthong are not only desperate to be there, they have the infrastructure and the backing to make full use of regular tests against the top teams.
A little variety can add a lot of spice especially at a time when every year sees many of the same familiar faces return. In parts of Southeast Asia there is so much colour, excitement, ambition and a better backdrop for broadcasters to showcase Asia's Champions League around the world.
At the moment, the playoffs for these teams are all a little pointless, even cruel. They offer a glimpse of the group stage but it is a promised land into which the doorway is blocked. It's a shame and in the long-run nobody benefits from the exclusion of the likes of JDT and Muangthong. The Asian Champions League needs them.

Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/my/features/its-time-southeast-asia-get-some-more-champions-league-love#F781hYk3I8RIVaqc.99

West Asia OUT --> Southeast Asia IN

Because the comp is split you could double it. It would be great commercially long term to have Indian teams.

The problem is WA.

From their 12 participating countries 7 are disqualified from the tournament . While we have 1 (Indonesia)

Perhaps in the future it may happen, but no way should we dropping spots to the shit countries. They have the AFC Cup.

However a 32 team East zone would be awesome. Much more expensive though, but money in Asian football doesn't seem to be a problem these days.

ASEAN Super League would go a long way to guaranteeing more SE asian clubs make it as well as providing a better competition for their players to grow in.

I could see a Singaporean team doing very well if given the opportunity to have a token team or 2 instead of dividing their talent among a weak league.

I would rather see an bigger ACL.

Playing against Timor, Brunei and Cambodian teams isnt going to improve them.

Having
4 Australian, 4 Chinese, 4 Japanese, 4 Korean (ranked in pot 1 & 2 in 8 groups)
3 Thai, 3 Viet
2 Indonesian, 2 India
1 Singapore, 1 Hong Kong, 1 Malaysia 1 Myanmar

etc would be much better

There would be some blow outs , but it would bring the tournament into more countries.

Basically the sooner India can get at least 1 team permanently in the group stage the better it will be for everyone.

The problem is that the AFC have a massive hard on for copying anything that UEFA does. The AFC CL is a carbon copy of the UEFA Champions League which is a shit tournament compared to the old European Cup.

If the Tournament wants to call itself the Champions League, then at the very least, participation should be realistic for every league champion in the AFC. I'd also say that the entire tournament should be knockout format, as this is the only time it gains any real interest or excitement and it would be quicker to knock out shitčunt clubs like CCM who clearly don't want to be there.

A straight knockout competition would reduce Australian interest in the ACL if anything. It would become even easier for A-League clubs to ignore or de-prioritise their Asian commitments if they knew all they had to play was one match - at least now, the six match group stage disrupts the A-League season enough to force clubs to balance their domestic commitments with their continental ones.

Straight knockout would also probably mean much fewer matches involving Australian clubs (getting knocked out after one or two rounds instead of after six group matches) which makes it a less worthwhile investment for Fox/other media outlets to focus attention and resources on the ACL. That in turn means less interest from the footballing public.

Shortening the competition and increasing the chances of an early exit for Australian sides is not the way to encourage Aussie football to take the ACL more seriously.

Just a suggestion from experience, we had far more interest in our one-off playoff against Muangthong then we had for any group stage game. The group stage is just extraordinarily dull.

I remember the Muangthong game - but clubs like MV are more likely to be taking the ACL seriously anyway. The clubs that need a kick up the arse in this regard are Brisbane/CCM etc... remember Brisbane's last play off back in 2013 in Thailand? They were so bad with so many second string players that people were asking if they'd thrown the game to avoid progressing to the group stage. CCM's effort in the playoff last year was also pitiful.