Demandred
05-09-2007, 01:16 AM
lol dont we only have like 6 teams? 7 if you include the NZ team
Staff Writer
May 9 2007 00:16
Get more on: acl | aleague
Up to five Australian teams could compete each year in the Asian Champions League under a radical AFC-proposed shake-up of the tournament.
Asian Football Confederation chiefs are furious with the poor performance of football leagues elsewhere in Asia.
And at the AFC's Congress, they demanded action from other countries to raise their game to the level of the A-League, Japan's J-League and the Korean K-League...or else miss out on a Champions League slot.
Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi has called for a dramatic improvement in the standard of Asian club football if the continent is to make an impact at global level.
"The level of football in Asia has risen tremendously in the last few years but unfortunately we are still not close enough to the top level in the world yet," he said during a keynote address at the AFC's Congress on Tuesday.
"The FIFA World Cup 2006 is a good example as not a single Asian team advanced from the group stage, that is excluding Australia, a newly-joined country.
"We need to drastically develop the clubs which will in turn directly impact on the development of the national team for a meaningful breakthrough."
Australia, eliminated by eventual champions Italy in the second round, joined the confederation at the start of 2006 but qualified as a member of the Oceania confederation while Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Iran all fell at the group stage of the tournament.
The Australians are now a fully fledged member of the confederation, with A-League clubs joining the Asian Champions League at the start of 2007, a move that has boosted interest in the continental club championship.
However, the J-, A-and K-Leagues are seen by Asian officials as the only set-ups which match the criteria required to improve the standard of club football.
As a result, AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam is prepared to dramtically reduce the number of nations participating in the ACL if they fail to meet the standards set by next year.
"What we are looking for is 32 teams playing in top competition," said the Qatari. "Even if those 32 teams come from just six or seven countries, that is still the way to become successful."
Under that set-up, five of Australia's seven A-League teams could qualify for the annual top tier competition.
Kawabuchi and his taskforce - known as the Professional League Committee - believe the way forward is to dramatically revamp the ACL.
"We have to make an adventurous reformatting of the AFC Champions League to make it more attractive," said Kawabuchi.
"This will rest on certain basic concepts like making the tournament an exciting and popular event and add more attractiveness to it from the perspective of the fans and media, raising the level of competition, providing better conditions for participating clubs and secure a good financial base for the competition."
Staff Writer
May 9 2007 00:16
Get more on: acl | aleague
Up to five Australian teams could compete each year in the Asian Champions League under a radical AFC-proposed shake-up of the tournament.
Asian Football Confederation chiefs are furious with the poor performance of football leagues elsewhere in Asia.
And at the AFC's Congress, they demanded action from other countries to raise their game to the level of the A-League, Japan's J-League and the Korean K-League...or else miss out on a Champions League slot.
Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi has called for a dramatic improvement in the standard of Asian club football if the continent is to make an impact at global level.
"The level of football in Asia has risen tremendously in the last few years but unfortunately we are still not close enough to the top level in the world yet," he said during a keynote address at the AFC's Congress on Tuesday.
"The FIFA World Cup 2006 is a good example as not a single Asian team advanced from the group stage, that is excluding Australia, a newly-joined country.
"We need to drastically develop the clubs which will in turn directly impact on the development of the national team for a meaningful breakthrough."
Australia, eliminated by eventual champions Italy in the second round, joined the confederation at the start of 2006 but qualified as a member of the Oceania confederation while Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Iran all fell at the group stage of the tournament.
The Australians are now a fully fledged member of the confederation, with A-League clubs joining the Asian Champions League at the start of 2007, a move that has boosted interest in the continental club championship.
However, the J-, A-and K-Leagues are seen by Asian officials as the only set-ups which match the criteria required to improve the standard of club football.
As a result, AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam is prepared to dramtically reduce the number of nations participating in the ACL if they fail to meet the standards set by next year.
"What we are looking for is 32 teams playing in top competition," said the Qatari. "Even if those 32 teams come from just six or seven countries, that is still the way to become successful."
Under that set-up, five of Australia's seven A-League teams could qualify for the annual top tier competition.
Kawabuchi and his taskforce - known as the Professional League Committee - believe the way forward is to dramatically revamp the ACL.
"We have to make an adventurous reformatting of the AFC Champions League to make it more attractive," said Kawabuchi.
"This will rest on certain basic concepts like making the tournament an exciting and popular event and add more attractiveness to it from the perspective of the fans and media, raising the level of competition, providing better conditions for participating clubs and secure a good financial base for the competition."