AFC Champions League East Asia matches moved to Qatar

Clubs from six nations will compete for a place in the AFC Champions League final against Persepolis on December 19.

Defending champions Al Hilal was kicked out of the AFC Champions League after it was unable to field a full team due to multiple coronavirus cases.

The Asian Football Confederation on Friday said it has moved all remaining Asian Champions League games for East zone sides to Qatar from Malaysia.

The games, including remaining group matches, will now take place from November 18 to December 13 in Doha, which earlier this week saw the conclusion of West zone matches where Iran's Persepolis advanced to the December 19 final at an as yet undecided venue.

East zone sides hail from China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand.

“We are extremely grateful for the outstanding support of the QFA (Qatar Football Association),” AFC secretary general Dato Windsor John said in a statement, which did not detail reasons for the change in venue.

 

“We can now build on the success of the AFC Champions League (West) while looking forward to the remaining exciting matches in Asia's premier club competition.”

The Asian Champions League was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. West zone games were moved to Qatar where they resumed last month.

Despite stringent bio-security measures, several teams were affected by the novel coronavirus, with last year's winner Al Hilal axed from the competition after it reached the knockout phase with a game to spare.

The Saudi side had 30 players and staff infected by COVID-19 and so was unable to field the minimum number of players required for its final group match.