Over the weekend, 36 officials will attend the AFC Local General Coordinator Seminar at AFC House, aimed at enhancing the standard of match operations in the ACL and other AFC competitions.

This will act as a warm-up to the main event, the ACL General Managers Seminar at the PJ Hilton, on October 28 and 29, featuring 163 officials representing the elite clubs of 14 countries.

The ACL meeting will offer club managers the chance to improve the administration of their own clubs in terms of professionalism and efficiency.

They will also learn about marketing, communications, general management and other aspects of running a football club.

It is hoped that the managers will apply this knowledge in their home leagues and help their clubs and national leagues satisfy the criteria to take part in next season’s ACL.

There are 14 countries who have complied with first-phase requirements for the ACL. They are: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

However, not all 14 are guaranteed places in the 2009 ACL, often referred to as the Asian Pro League.

AFC will give clubs until the middle of December to meet the required criteria, failing which they will be unable to participate in the elite tournament. It is understood that, so far, seven countries have reached the standards.