The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
tournament organized by the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
(AFC), and the 14th under the current
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
title.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( ko, 전북 현대 모터스) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Playing at the Jeonju World Cup S ...
defeated
Al-Ain
Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...
in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
to win their second AFC Champions League title, and qualified as the AFC representative at the
2016 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, their
second appearance in the
FIFA Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
.
Guangzhou Evergrande
Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...
were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.
Association team allocation
The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014, which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014. The 46
AFC member associations (excluding the associate member
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
) are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions, with the allocation of slots for the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2014 rankings:
*The associations are split into West Zone and East Zone, with 23 associations in each zone:
**West Zone consists of the associations from
West Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...
,
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
,
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
, except India and Maldives
**East Zone consists of the associations from
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
and
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
, plus India and Maldives
*In each zone, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
*The top 12 associations in each zone as per the AFC rankings are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.
*The top six associations in each zone get at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
**The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each get three direct slots and one play-off slot (in play-off round).
**The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each get two direct slots and two play-off slots (one in play-off round, one in preliminary round 2).
**The associations ranked 5th each get one direct slot and two play-off slots (both in preliminary round 2).
**The associations ranked 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round 2).
**The associations ranked 7th to 12th each get one play-off slot (in preliminary round 1).
*The maximum number of slots for each association is one-third of the total number of clubs in the top division (e.g., Australia can only get a maximum of three total slots as there are only nine Australia-based clubs in the
A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
).
The AFC Competitions Committee finalised the slot allocation for the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC Champions League based on the criteria, including the AFC rankings and the implementation of club licensing regulations, on 28 November 2014.
The following table shows the slot allocation for the 2016 AFC Champions League, which are adjusted accordingly since some of the slots are unused.
;Notes
Teams
The following 45 teams from 17 associations entered the competition.
''In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count only those since the 2002–03 season (including qualifying rounds), when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League. TH means title holders.''
;Notes
Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in
Kuala Lumpur
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, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
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,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
).
Qualifying play-off
Preliminary round 1
Preliminary round 2
Play-off round
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout stage
Bracket
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
;Notes
Semi-finals
Final
Awards
Main awards
All-Star Squad
Source:
Opta Best XI
Source:
Top scorers
Controversies
On 25 January 2016, the
AFC announced changes to the
group stage
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...
schedule due to Saudi Arabia's refusal to play in Iran. After the changes, all matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia (including possible play-off winners) were rescheduled to be played on matchdays 5 and 6 (19–20 April and 3–4 May). The venues of these matches would be decided after an evaluation deadline of 15 March 2016. As there had not been a return to normal relations between the two countries by then with Saudi Arabia refusing to lift their travel restrictions to Iran, the AFC accepted the
Saudi Arabian Football Federation
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF, ar, الاتحاد العربي السعودي لكرة القدم) is the football governing body of Saudi Arabia. Founded in 1956, its responsibilities include administration of club competitions an ...
's proposal of playing all matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia in neutral venues. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation supports its clubs who refuse to travel to Iran. The
Iranian Football Federation
The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Formed ...
has stated that it could withdraw from the AFC Champions League due to the venue changes.
See also
*
2016 AFC Cup
*
2016 FIFA Club World Cup
References
External links
AFC Champions League the-AFC.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afc Champions League 2016
1
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...