During the 8th meeting of the AFC Professional League Ad Hoc Committee on Thursday, it was decided to allow each ACL team to field a maximum of four foreign players, one of whom must be from an Asian country.

The J.League is introducing a similar system next season, and AFC is encouraging other Member Associations to adopt the 3+1 rule.

“I would love to see a Saudi player playing in Korea and a Korean playing in Saudi Arabia,” said AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam. “By implementing this 3+1 rule, we are giving more chances for Asian players to play for other Asian clubs.”

The committee also chose Japan as the host for the 2009 ACL final, to be held in early November. Japan was selected because of their ability to promote the event and arouse regional interest.

There are 14 Member Associations (MA) that qualify as candidates for the 2009 ACL. However, the final number of participants will only be decided at the next committee meeting on 25 November in Shanghai, China.

AFC has imposed stringent criteria, including making clubs into commercial entities and satisfying a variety of other requirements to enhance professionalism.

Of the 14 MAs that fail to make the cut, their clubs can still play in the 2009 ACL through a pre-competition play-off.

Also eligible for the play-off are the winners and runners-up of the AFC Cup, provided they meet AFC criteria.

The re-branding campaign for the AFC Champions League will reach a milestone on 12 December 2008, when the New ACL 2009 Launch is held in Tokyo, Japan, during the FIFA Club World Cup.