The committee, chaired by Captain Saburo Kawabuchi, of Japan, on Thursday agreed upon a number of issues, including the deadline for compliance with criteria, pre-ACL play-offs, an Asian berth for each ACL team and Japan as the host for next year’s final.

Captain Kawabuchi, who was instrumental in the success of the J.League, said he hoped next year’s ACL would mark the dawn of a new era in Asian professional football.

“I am very proud to have been chairman of this committee for the past eight meetings,” Captain Kawabuchi said. “We have come a long way since our first meeting and we are nearly there.

“I hope we will continue to work hard and join hands to ensure the success of Asian football.”

AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam echoed Captain Kawabuchi’s sentiments.

“This is not the end of the journey but only the beginning. Asian clubs now know the importance of professionalism and I hope we can do our best to make sure that the new AFC Champions League will be a huge success.”

During the meeting, the following decisions were finalised.

1. A total of 17 Member Associations (MA) were deemed to have the ability to meet the criteria to compete in the 2009 ACL.

Of these, 13 MAs had submitted the necessary documents by the deadline of 1 October, 2008. They were: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Uzbekistan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, China and Korea Republic.

Japan had earlier met all the criteria and therefore was not required to submit documents.

Three MAs failed to meet the deadline. They were: Jordan, Syria and Kuwait.

The committee therefore concluded that 14 MAs qualified as candidates to compete in the 2009 ACL.

A final decision on which MAs qualify for the 2009 ACL will be made on 25 November during the 9th meeting of the AFC Professional League Ad Hoc Committee in Shanghai, China.

2. The ACL will feature a pre-competition play-off featuring teams from the 14 MAs who fail to satisfy the minimum criteria. The winners and runners-up of the AFC Cup will also be eligible to compete in these play-offs, as long as they fulfil AFC criteria and competition regulations. Teams failing to comply will be invited to compete in the AFC Cup.

3. The committee confirmed the introduction of the 3+1 rule for the 2009 ACL. This rule stipulates that each team competing in the 2009 ACL can field a maximum of four foreign players in each match with at least one player being from an AFC Member Association.

In addition, AFC is encouraging countries to adopt the 3+1 rule in their own leagues to enable Asian players to widen their opportunities within the continent and enhance Asian football as a whole.

4. After a bidding process involving three MAs, the committee selected Japan to host the final of the 2009 AFC Champions League.

The next meeting of the AFC Professional League Ad Hoc Committee will be held on 25 November 2008 in Shanghai, China.

The decisions taken by the committee are subject to approval by the AFC Executive Committee, which meets on 26 November 2008 in Shanghai, China. A press conference will be held at the end of the meeting.

Furthermore, the committee confirmed that the re-branding of the AFC Champions League and the New ACL 2009 Launch will be held in Tokyo, Japan on 12 December 2008.