March 9 – The AFC has reinforced the importance it is giving to its club licensing proigramme with the suspension of the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran’s and Tajikistan Football Federation’s Club Licensing Administrations.
Both nations had teams excluded from AFC club competition this season for failing to meet club licensing criteria.
In Iran’s case three teams were excluded, including giant clubs Persepolis and Esteghlal, for not having “satisfied all of the mandatory criteria”.
Now the AFC is showing it is serious and is saying the federations licensing authorities will be suspended “until all defects have been addressed and rectified to the satisfaction of the AFC General Secretariat.”
With the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup moving to an Autumn-Spring seasons beginning from 2023-24, the AFC has actioned several major amendments to the implementation of the Club Licensing Core Process and its Regulations, including the deadline for submission of the list of licensing decisions by the MAs to the AFC, the overdue payables criteria, extraordinary application, among several other matters.
Adherence to club licensing rules will be crucial to managing the season change. The AFC Administration is now beginning discussions with MA Licensing Administrators to explain the possible outcomes arising from the AFC club competitions season change – for them as the Iranians found out, the outcome could be suspension until they get into line with the regualtion.
In his opening address to the AFC Club Licensing Task Force this week, chairperson Hamad Mohamed Aljneibi emphasised the role of club licensing in raising the professional standards across the Asian football landscape, a core aim of the AFC as it drives an improvement in the quality of its competitions both on and off the pitch.
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