August 24 – The AFC, through its Professional Football Task Force, is taking key steps towards the confederation’s objective of establishing a sustainable blueprint aimed at elevating the professional standards of Asian club football.
The AFC has revamped its three-tiered club competitions system which will take effect from the 2024/25 season. The Task Force reviewed the amendments suggested to the 2023 edition of the AFC Club Licensing Regulations with a view to ensuring they strengthened the long term development of Asian clubs.
Led by chairperson and former Korea Republic captain Park Ji-sung (pictured), the Task Force discussed the possible introduction of a Homegrown Players Policy, that would focus on national associations through the development of domestic youth players and the establishment of a sustainable revenue model for clubs in Asia.
“The success of our teams across our Member Associations is testament to the progress we have made in Asian football. As mentioned in the AFC’s Vision and Mission, our goal is to be a model Confederation and with the establishment of this Task Force, I am confident that we are on the right track,” said Park Ji-sung.
“But to truly excel and bring Asian leagues up to the standards of the top leagues in the world, we now need to lay special emphasis on developing domestic youth players.”
The ambition for the Professional Football Task Force is to transform into a full AFC Committee in the near future.
Currently the professional club game across the confederation is overseen by the Professional Football Department within the AFC which has undergone significant enhancement with the introduction of new programmes to better assist Club Licensing administration in the Confederation’s Member Associations (MAs), thereby supporting the further development of Asian clubs.
All decisions taken by the Task Force must be ratified by the AFC Executive Committee before being introduced.
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