24 ACLE participating teams → 32 expansion... Tournament PO also introduced

*This content was translated by AI.

The AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), the top club competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), is expected to be expanded and reorganized from next season.

AFC announced on its official channel on the 14th, "The AFC Championship Committee recommended an expanded reform plan, including increasing the number of ACLE participating teams from 24 to 32 from 2026-2027," adding, "It will take effect if approved by the AFC Executive Committee."

According to the AFC, the key to the reorganization is to expand the number of teams participating in the finals from 24 to 32. Until this season, a total of 24 teams, 12 teams from East and West Asia, have participated, and now four teams from East and West Asia have increased, with a total of 32 teams competing.

However, it was not disclosed on the same day whether the expansion of the number of participating teams would increase the number of tickets allocated to the existing ACLE qualification league or expand the AFC league ranking itself to participate in ACLE.

Changes are also expected to be made in the way the tournament is advanced through the league stage. Until this season, the top eight teams (1st to 8th) in each region went straight to the round of 16 tournaments after being divided into East and West Asia and playing the league stage.

However, if it is expanded to 32 teams, only the teams ranked first to sixth in the East and West Asian League stages will go straight to the round of 16, and the tournament playoffs (PO) between the 7th to 10th teams in each league stage will determine the teams that advance to the round of 16. However, if the tournament PO is introduced, it will be applied from the 2027-2028 season, not the next season.

AFC has been operating the AFC-hosted club competition, which was operated as the AFC Champions League (ACL) until the 2023-2024 season, divided into ACLE, AFC Champions League 2 (ACL2), and AFC Challenge League (ACGL) from the 2024-2025 season. Compared to the UEFA, it is the same as the Champions League, the Europa League, and the Europa Conference League in turn.

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*This content was translated by AI.