AFC Champions League

The AFC Champions League is an annual international inter-club football (soccer) competition between the champions and cup winners of the top 14 Asian leagues. It is run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). == History == Originally known as the Asian Club Championship, the tournament began in 1967 with just eight clubs registered to take part. After the 1971 tournament the competition went into hiatus but was resurrected again in 1986 and reborn as the Asian Champions Cup. Entry was restricted to domestic champions only, with Cup winners playing in the Asian Cup Winners Cup tournament. The winners of the two major tournaments then played off for the Asian Super Cup. From 2002/2003 the ''Asian Champions Cup'' and ''Asian Cup Winners Cup'' were merged into one competition and was rebranded the AFC Champions League. Six clubs have won the tournament two times; Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Pohang Steelers, Al-Hilal, Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC, Thai Farmers Bank and Esteghlal. == Qualification & format == Domestic Champions of the 14 top Asian federations qualify automatically for the tournament, along with the respective cup winners of the same federations. The tournament holders receive a bye into the quarter-finals. In total, 29 clubs competed in the 2004 Champions League tournament. The qualifying teams are split on a regional basis into seven groups of four teams. The teams play each other home and away and the top team from each group qualifies for the quarter-finals, where they join the reigning holders. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are played on a home and away basis. == Competing Asian Federations == === Central & West Asia=== Bahrain Football Association | Iran Football Federation | Iraqi Football Association | Kuwait Football Association | Qatar Football Association | Saudi Arabia Football Federation | United Arab Emirates Football Association | Uzbekistan Football Association === East Asia === Football Association of The People's Republic of China | Football Association of Indonesia | Japan Football Association | Korea Football Association | Football Association of Thailand | Vietnam Football Federation == Asian Champions Cup & Champions League Finals == {| border=1 cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0 width=100% style="border-collapse:collapse" |- align=center style="background:#efefef;" !width=5%|Season !width=20%|Winner !width=10%|Score !width=20%|Runner-up |- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |2004 |Al-Ittihad
|6 - 3
(aggregate) |Ilhwa Chunma
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |2003 |Al Ain FC
|2 - 1
(aggregate) |BEC Tero Sasana
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |2002 |Suwon Samsung Bluewings
|0 - 0
(4-2 pens) |FC Seoul
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |2001 |Suwon Samsung Bluewings
|1 - 0 |J�bilo Iwata
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |2000 |Al-Hilal
|3 - 2 |J�bilo Iwata
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1999 |J�bilo Iwata
|2 - 1 |Esteghlal
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1998 |Pohang Steelers
|0 - 0
(6-5 pens) |Dalian Wanda
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1997 |Pohang Steelers
|2 - 1 |Ilhwa Chunma
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1996 |Ilhwa Chunma
|1 - 0 |Al-Nasr
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1995 |Thai Farmers Bank
|1 - 0 |Al-Arabi
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1994 |Thai Farmers Bank
|2 - 1 |Omani Club
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1993 |Paas
|1 - 0 |Al Shebab
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1992 |Al-Hilal
|1 - 1
(4-3 pens) |Esteghlal
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1991 |Esteghlal
|2 - 1 |Liaoning FC
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1990 |Liaoning FC
|3 - 2
(aggregate) |Yokohama F. Marinos
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1989 |Al Saad
|3 - 3
(aggregate, away goals win) |Al Rasheed
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1988 |Tokyo Verdy 1969
|w/o - x
(Al-Hilal withdrew) |Al-Hilal
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1987 |JEF United Ichihara Chiba
|Group stage win |Al-Hilal
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1986 |'''Busan I'Park
|3 - 1 |Al-Ahly
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1971 |Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC
|w/o - x
(Al Shourta withdrew) |Al Shourta
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1970 |Esteghlal
|2 - 1 |Hapoel-Tel Aviv
|- align=center bgcolor=#D0E7FF |1969 |Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC
|1 - 0 |Yangzee FC
|- align=center bgcolor=#F5FAFF |1967 |Hapoel Tel-Aviv
|2 - 1''' |Selangor FC
|} == External Links == * [http://www.afcchampionsleague.com Asian Champions League Official Website] International club football competitions

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