ACL 2012 slots confirmed: Iran down to 2+2 spots

AFC – KUALA LUMPUR, The AFC Executive Committee has confirmed the number of places participating Member Associations will have in the 2012 AFC Champions League.

The Executive Committee based their decision on inspection reports by the AFC Special Mission Team and on the results of assessments from the AFC Professional Football Project carried out throughout 2011, which revealed only Japan, Qatar and Uzbekistan fully met the AFC Champions League criteria.

The considerations of the Ad-Hoc Committee for Professional Football and the Competitions Committee regarding the allocation of places for the 2011 AFC Champions League and the proposals for future editions of the tournament were also taken into account by the Executive Committee.

After intensive discussions during the Ex-co meeting at AFC House on Wednesday, the allocation for participating Member Associations has been decided as follows:

West Zone – Direct Entrants

Qatar                            4

Saudi Arabia                 3

UAE                             3

Uzbekistan                    2

Iran                               2

West Zone – Playoff Entrants

Iran                               2

Saudi Arabia                 1

UAE                             1

Uzbekistan                    1

East Zone – Direct Entrants

Japan                            4

Korea Republic             3

China                            3

Australia                        2

Thailand                        1

Uzbekistan                    1

East Zone – Playoff Entrants

Korea Republic             1

China                            1

Australia                       1

Thailand                        1

Indonesia                      1

This allocation is only for the 2012 AFC Champions League and will be revised in November following the conclusion of the tournament. Any changes following the review will apply to the next two editions of the competition (2013 and 2014).