The 2012 AFC Champions League was the 31st edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 10th under the current AFC Champions League title.
Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea won their first title, defeating Al-Ahli from Saudi Arabia with a 4-1 win in the final.
Allocation of entries per association The AFC approved criteria for participation in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The final decision date was set after the Executive Committee meeting in November 2010.
On 30 November 2009, the AFC announced 12 more MA's that were keen to join the ACL, in addition to ten participating national associations. Singapore later withdrew. The full list of candidate associations were as follows:
East Asia Participating: Australia, China PR, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic Applied to participate: Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand Withdrew: Singapore Disqualified: Vietnam
West Asia Participating: Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan Applied to participate: India, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Tajikistan, Yemen
Note: India, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have clubs taking part in play-offs to qualify for the group stages of ACL in 2010.
Entrants per association It was originally announced that the allocation for entry to the 2012 ACL would stay the same as the previous three seasons with the exception of Vietnam, who were disqualified, and their previous playoff slot was awarded to Qatar. However, following the AFC Executive Committee meeting in November 2011, it was decided that the number of slots for each association to be changed based on evaluation of the AFC Champions League criteria that took place in 2011.
A total of eleven member associations (see below) which participated in the 2011 AFC Champions League was evaluated for participating in the 2012 AFC Champions League. India, which played in the 2011 ACL play-off, was not evaluated and dropped to the AFC Cup. The other member associations which applied but did not meet the criteria for 2011 ACL was not evaluated at all for 2012.
Evaluation for 2012 ACL Meet all items of the criteria Meet some items of the criteria Do not meet the criteria
+West AsiaMemberAssociationClubsSpotsGroup stagePlay-offAFC Cup Qatar12400 Saudi Arabia14310 UAE12310 Uzbekistan14310 Iran18220Total145—
+East AsiaMemberAssociationClubsSpotsGroup stagePlay-offAFC Cup Japan18400 Korea Republic15 (16)310 China PR16310 Australia9 (10)210 Thailand18110 Indonesia24011Total145—
Notes One of the group stage direct entrants from Uzbekistan was moved to the East Zone. One of the K-League clubs, Sangju Sangmu Phoenix, is unable to qualify for the ACL because the team is not a commercial entity and their players are not professionally contracted. While the 2010–11 A-League, the season which qualified Australian clubs to the 2012 ACL, had 11 teams, the 2011–12 A-League, the ongoing season, only has 10 teams after North Queensland Fury was closed, and this number was given in the 2012 ACL evaluation report (page 8). One of the A-League clubs, Wellington Phoenix, is based in New Zealand, an OFC member country, and are unable to qualify for the ACL. This number was given in the 2012 ACL evaluation report (page 8). The 2010–11 Indonesia Super League, the season which qualified Indonesian clubs to the 2012 ACL, had 15 teams, and the 2011–12 Indonesian Premier League, the ongoing top division recognized by the Football Association of Indonesia, has 13 teams. There are two rival "top-division" leagues in Indonesia: the Indonesian Premier League and the Indonesia Super League (the ISL was by then not recognized by the Football Association of Indonesia). China was allocated a berth in the qualifying play-off, but Liaoning Whowin, the 2011 Chinese Super League 3rd place, did not enter the competition. Therefore, only four teams entered the East Zone qualifying play-off.
Teams A total of 37 teams participated in the 2012 AFC Champions League. 28 teams (14 in West Zone, 14 in East Zone) directly entered the group stage. 9 teams (5 in West Zone, 4 in East Zone) competed in the qualifying play-off, which was divided into two rounds. The 4 winners (2 in West Zone, 2 in East Zone) qualified for the group stage. Losers of the qualifying play-off final round entered the 2012 AFC Cup group stage. However, losers of the qualifying play-off semi-final round were eliminated from all AFC competitions, a change from previous seasons where they would also enter the AFC Cup.
Group stage direct entrants: West Zone (Groups A–D)TeamQualifying methodApp*Last App Lekhwiya2010–11 Qatar Stars League champions1stnone Al-Rayyan2011 Emir of Qatar Cup winners2010–11 Qatar Stars League 3rd place4th2011 Al-Gharafa2010–11 Qatar Stars League runners-up7th2011 Al-Arabi2010–11 Qatar Stars League 4th place1stnone Al-Hilal2010–11 Saudi Professional League champions8th2011 Al-Ahli2011 King Cup of Champions winners5th2010 Al-Ittihad2010–11 Saudi Professional League runners-up8th2011 Al-Jazira2010–11 UAE Pro-League champions2010–11 UAE President's Cup winners4th2011 Baniyas2010–11 UAE Pro-League runners-up1stnone Al-Nasr2010–11 UAE Pro-League 3rd place1stnone Pakhtakor2011 Uzbekistan Cup winners2011 Uzbek League 3rd place10th2011 Nasaf Qarshi2011 Uzbek League runners-up1stnone Sepahan2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup champions8th2011 Pirozi2010–11 Hazfi Cup winners4th2011Qualifying play-off participants: West Zone Esteghlal2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup runners-up5th2011 Zob Ahan2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup 3rd place4th2011 Al-Ettifaq2010–11 Saudi Professional League 3rd place2nd2009 Al-Shabab2010–11 UAE Pro-League 4th place2nd2009 Neftchi Farg'ona2011 Uzbek League 4th place5th2007
Group stage direct entrants: East Zone (Groups E–H)TeamQualifying methodApp*Last App Kashiwa Reysol2011 J.League Division 1 champions1stnone FC Tokyo2011 Emperor's Cup winners1stnone Nagoya Grampus2011 J.League Division 1 runners-up3rd2011 Gamba Osaka2011 J.League Division 1 3rd place6th2011 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors2011 K-League champions6th2011 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma2011 Korean FA Cup winners5th2010 Ulsan Hyundai2011 K-League runners-up3rd2009 Guangzhou Evergrande2011 Chinese Super League champions1stnone Tianjin Teda2011 Chinese FA Cup winners3rd2011 Beijing Guoan2011 Chinese Super League runners-up4th2010 Brisbane Roar2010–11 A-League premiers2011 A-League Grand Final winners1stnone Central Coast Mariners2010–11 A-League regular season runners-up2nd2009 Buriram United2011 Thai Premier League champions2011 Thai FA Cup winners2nd2009 Bunyodkor†2011 Uzbek League champions5th2011Qualifying play-off participants: East Zone Pohang Steelers 2011 K-League 3rd place4th2010 Adelaide United 2010–11 A-League regular season 3rd place4th 2010 Chonburi2011 Thai Premier League runners-up2nd2008 Persipura Jayapura‡2010–11 Indonesia Super League champions2nd2010
Notes * Number of appearances (including qualifying rounds) since the 2002/03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League. † Bunyodkor (Uzbekistan) was moved to the East Zone. ‡ Persipura Jayapura were initially disqualified by the AFC from participating but on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the CAS ruled on 1 February 2012 that they should be provisionally reinstated to the competition and were entitled to play in the qualifying play-off. Al-Kuwait (Kuwait), the 2011 AFC Cup runners-up, failed to fulfil the criteria set by AFC to compete in the 2012 AFC Champions League, and thus directly entered the 2012 AFC Cup. Nasaf Qarshi (Uzbekistan), the 2011 AFC Cup winners, already directly qualified for the group stage based on their domestic performance.
Schedule Schedule of dates for 2012 competition.
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifying play-offsSemi-finals6 December 201110 February 2012Finals18 February 2012Group stageMatchday 16–7 March 2012Matchday 220–21 March 2012Matchday 33–4 April 2012Matchday 417–18 April 2012Matchday 51–2 May 2012Matchday 615–16 May 2012Knockout phaseRound of 1622–23 May 2012 (W), 29–30 May 2012 (E)Quarter-finals14 June 201219 September 20122–3 October 2012Semi-finals24 October 201231 October 2012Final9 or 10 November 2012 at home of one of the finalists
Qualifying play-off
The draw for the qualifying play-off was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 December 2011. The winners advanced to the group stage, while the losers of the final round advanced to the AFC Cup group stage, except the loser of the match between Adelaide United and Persipura Jayapura.
West Zone
!colspan="3"|Semi-final Round
!colspan="3"|Final Round
East Zone
!colspan="3"|Final Round
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 December 2011. Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout stage
Bracket
Round of 16 The matchups for the round of 16 were decided based on the results from the group stage. Each tie was played as one match, hosted by the winners of each group (Team 1) against the runners-up of another group (Team 2).
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 June 2012. It determined the matchups for the quarter-finals and semi-finals as well as the potential host for the final.
Semi-finals
Final
The final of the 2012 AFC Champions League was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by a draw. According to the draw on 14 June 2012, the winner of semi-final 2 would host the final. Therefore, Ulsan Hyundai was the home team.
Top scorers Rank Player Club Total1 Ricardo Oliveira Al-Jazira11 1342 122 Naif Hazazi Al-Ittihad 21 1 12 1 83 Rafinha Gamba Osaka (GS) Ulsan Hyundai (QF+SF+F) 2 121 1 7 Victor Simões Al-Ahli 1111 1 1 1 75 Darío Conca Guangzhou Evergrande2 111 1 6 Kim Shin-Wook Ulsan Hyundai1 1 1 111 67 Éamon Zayed Persepolis 31 1 5 Bruno Correa Sepahan111 1 1 5 Leandro Domingues Kashiwa Reysol 2 111 5 Yoo Byung-Soo Al-Hilal 1 4 5 Amara Diané Al-Nasr 211 1 5 Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted.
Source:
See also 2012 AFC Cup 2012 AFC President's Cup
References
External links