The Asian continent’s biggest club competition has received unprecedented media exposure this season after Saudi teams spent huge sums on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema.
This competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) covers a huge area from Australia to the Middle East and Central Asia, and according to FIFPRO, “the numerous trips across a vast continent and the matches in mid weekdays add to the already increasing workload of players, which has an impact on club performance.
The report “recommends that the AFC establishes a true partnership” offering “a more sustainable model that rewards all stakeholders” as the competition is currently “unsustainable”. The current AFC Champions League is divided into two zones, “West” and “East”, down to a two-legged home and away final. From the next edition, there will still be a geographical division at the start of the tournament, but the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place in Saudi Arabia.
For FIFPRO, this remodeled version, which will see the winner take home a higher check of 11 million euros, is “no more viable”. Among its conclusions, the 49-page report notably ensures that the average quality of the participating teams is lower than that playing in the elite championships of Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.
FIFPRO also deplores that “the financial subsidies granted to clubs by the AFC do not cover the costs borne by the clubs, in particular for long distance travel”. Takuya Yamazaki, FIFPRO president for Oceania and Asia, hopes the report will “spark meaningful discussions with governing bodies, leagues, clubs and fans” about the Asian C1.