AFC announces AFC Champions League 2 prize money

AFC has introduced a new competition namely the AFC Champions League 2.

The governing body of the beautiful game in Asia, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the restructuring of its club championship model starting from the 2024-25 season. The AFC followed a two-tier system which included the top tier AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup until last season.

In the new model, the AFC has introduced a new competition namely the AFC Champions League 2 alongside the previous two. The elite division, which consists of the best 24 teams in Asia, shall henceforth be referred to as the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE). The AFC Champions League 2 will take place beneath the ACLE.

The brand-new competition will consist of 32 teams that will be split into eight groups of four teams each. At the bottom of the three-tier continental competition framework will be the AFC Challenge League (ACGL), which will host a total of 20 teams grouped into five groups of four teams each.

India’s Representation

With the new framework coming into play, India will unfortunately not have any representatives in the new top tier league, the AFC Champions League Elite due to a poor run of results from the previous representatives. However, India have been handed one confirmed spot and one qualifier spot in the new competition, the AFC Champions League 2.

While Indian Super League (ISL) champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant have been granted direct entry into the group phase of ACL 2, Super Cup winners East Bengal will play a preliminary round to secure their ticket into the new competition.

The preliminary round is expected to be played in August 2024, while the group fixtures will kickoff in September and will go on until the end of the calendar year. The knockout rounds will be played from February 2025 to April 2025 and the final is scheduled for May 17, 2025.

Prize Money

The AFC recently announced the prize money for the ACL 2.

Total prize money for champions: 3.28 million USD

Total prize money for runners: 1.78 million USD

Group stage participation: 300K USD

Round of 16: + 80K USD

Quarter-finals: + 160K USD

Semi-finals: + 240K USD

Runner-up: + 1M USD

Champions: +2.5M USD

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