What prospects for the Asian Champions’ League?

It took a long time for Asian nations to create professional football leagues. Even now, a lot of time is spent watching matches on television from the Premier League or La Liga. Globalisation spreads interest in football, and it both stimulates and constrains its local development.

The movers and shakers in Asian football are split between the large developed economies such as Australia, Japan and South Korea and the cash-rich Gulf states. With plenty of money but small populations and a harsh climate, the way forward for many of them has been to invest in English, French and Spanish clubs.

The Asian Champions’ League had its final in front of a sell out 44,000 last Saturday. Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea defeated Al Alhi of Saudi Arabia 3-0. An effort has been made to turn into a tv-friendly competition that will attract sponsors.

There are 47 nations in the Asian Football Confederation but less than a quarter of them (11) are entered into the competition. Sizeable countries like India, Malaysia and Pakistan are excluded, as are the Gulf states. As a result, the competition is a lot less representative and commercially viable than it could be.

The criteria for entry include competitiveness, professionalism, marketability and financial status. In that sense the competition very much reflects a business oriented approach to football rather than one based on performance on the pitch, although, of course, the two are related. One advantage of the approach of setting high minimum standards is that you do not have minnows taking part or endless pre-qualifying as with Uefa competitions.

It was hoped by setting the bar high, it would push other nations to invest in and raise the level of their domestic game, but it hasn’t worked out like that. In India, cricket remains the primary sporting attrcation, hence the Indian Premier League in that game. There’s a long way to go for football in Asia yet.