In addition, clarifications for sporting criteria, the AFC Club Competitions Ranking Principles and the application process for revised nomination principles were provided. The AFC Club Licensing Regulations (Edition 2024) have also been amended; as a result of the revised slot allocation, a new specific deadline for the Club Licensing Extraordinary Application procedure has been introduced.

 

 

Thereafter, the Entry Regulations (Edition 2026) will apply from the 2027/28 season onwards. Key updates include new requirements in the MA Eligibility Criteria, most notably the mandatory implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in the domestic top division leagues of Participating MAs in the ACL Elite.

 

Furthermore, the minimum requirements for domestic competition formats, as well as the minimum number of matches each club must play in domestic competitions for PMAs in the AFC Challenge League™ (ACGL), have been adjusted to reflect the current landscape.

 

For the AFC Club Licensing Regulations (Edition 2026), changes were made after extensive consultation and reviews with MAs via a Roadmap Project that began in June 2025; these will come into effect for the AFC Champions League Elite™, AFC Champions League Two™ and ACGL from the 2027/28 sporting season onwards, and for the AFC Women’s Champions League™ from 2028/29 onwards. Certain criteria gradations will be progressively upgraded over subsequent club licensing cycles, allowing clubs to have greater clarity of the requirements and facilitate their implementation.

 

The Committee received an overview of the AFC Club Competitions 2025/26 entries and the progress of the AFC Club Competitions Benchmarking Report 2025/26, which is targeted for distribution by August 2026.

 

Updates on the areas of Homegrown Player Rules, Club Licensing Compliance Audits, the modernisation project of the AFC Club Licensing Administration System and Pitch Management Initiatives were also provided, along with activity reports of key Professional Football events from 2025.

 

All decisions must now be ratified by the AFC Executive Committee before taking effect, and all amendments will be communicated to all MAs and made available on the-AFC.com in due course.