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The AFC Champions League is an annual international inter-club Football competition between the champions and cup winners of the top 14 Asian leagues. It is run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Like the CAF Champions League , the Asian Champions League is not as prestigious as its European counterpart, the UEFA Champions League . 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 / 03 the ''Asian Champions Cup'' and ''Asian Cup Winners Cup'' were merged into one competition and was rebranded the AFC Champions League. Seven clubs have won the tournament two times; Suwon Samsung Bluewings , Pohang Steelers , Al-Hilal , Maccabi Tel-Aviv , Thai Farmers Bank , Esteghlal and Al Ittihad . Maccabi cannot add any further titles, as the Israel Football Association has not been an AFC member for over 30 years, and has since joined UEFA . QUALIFICATION & FORMAT The 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. Teams which are not in the top 14 federations go into the AFC Cup . In total, 29 clubs competed in the 2005 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 in the format of a Knockout Competition . In 2007 the tournament will expand to 32 teams, partially to accommodate the entrance of Australia into the AFC, and a new qualifying process will be used. COMPETING ASIAN FEDERATIONS Central & West Asia | ||
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