2012 Afc Champions League

2012 AFC Champions League

Tournament details
Dates	10 February – 10 November 2012
Teams	37 (from 11 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Ulsan Hyundai (1st title)
Runners-up	Al-Ahli
Tournament statistics
Matches played	117
Goals scored	338 (2.89 per match)
Attendance	1,480,245 (12,652 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ricardo Oliveira (12 goals)
Best player(s)	Lee Keun-ho
← 2011 2013 →

Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea won their first title, defeating Al-Ahli from Saudi Arabia with a 3–0 win in the final, and qualified for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.

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.

West Asia Member Association Clubs Spots Group stage Play-off AFC Cup   Qatar 12 4 0 0   Saudi Arabia 14 3 1 0   UAE 12 3 1 0   Uzbekistan 14 [A]3[A] 1 0   Iran 18 2 2 0 Total [A]14[A] 5 —

East Asia Member Association Clubs Spots Group stage Play-off AFC Cup   Japan 18 4 0 0   Korea Republic 15 (16)[B] 3 1 0   China PR 16 3 [E]1[E] 0   Australia 9 (10)[C] 2 1 0   Thailand 18 1 1 0   Indonesia 24[D] 0 1 1 Total [A]14[A] [E]5[E] —

Notes

• ^A One of the group stage direct entrants from Uzbekistan was moved to the East Zone.
• ^B 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.
• ^C 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.
• ^D 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).
• ^E 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.

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) Team Qualifying method App* Last App   Lekhwiya 2010–11 Qatar Stars League champions 1st none   Al-Rayyan 2011 Emir of Qatar Cup winners 2010–11 Qatar Stars League 3rd place 4th 2011   Al-Gharafa 2010–11 Qatar Stars League runners-up 7th 2011   Al-Arabi 2010–11 Qatar Stars League 4th place 1st none   Al-Hilal 2010–11 Saudi Professional League champions 8th 2011   Al-Ahli 2011 King Cup of Champions winners 5th 2010   Al-Ittihad 2010–11 Saudi Professional League runners-up 8th 2011   Al-Jazira 2010–11 UAE Pro-League champions 2010–11 UAE President's Cup winners 4th 2011   Baniyas 2010–11 UAE Pro-League runners-up 1st none   Al-Nasr 2010–11 UAE Pro-League 3rd place 1st none   Pakhtakor 2011 Uzbekistan Cup winners 2011 Uzbek League 3rd place 10th 2011   Nasaf Qarshi 2011 Uzbek League runners-up 1st none   Sepahan 2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup champions 8th 2011   Persepolis 2010–11 Hazfi Cup winners 4th 2011 Qualifying play-off participants: West Zone   Esteghlal 2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup runners-up 5th 2011   Zob Ahan 2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup 3rd place 4th 2011   Al-Ettifaq 2010–11 Saudi Professional League 3rd place 2nd 2009   Al-Shabab 2010–11 UAE Pro-League 4th place 2nd 2009   Neftchi Farg'ona 2011 Uzbek League 4th place 5th 2007

Group stage direct entrants: East Zone (Groups E–H) Team Qualifying method App* Last App   Kashiwa Reysol 2011 J.League Division 1 champions 1st none   FC Tokyo 2011 Emperor's Cup winners 1st none   Nagoya Grampus 2011 J.League Division 1 runners-up 3rd 2011   Gamba Osaka 2011 J.League Division 1 3rd place 6th 2011   Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2011 K-League champions 6th 2011   Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 2011 Korean FA Cup winners 5th 2010   Ulsan Hyundai 2011 K-League runners-up 3rd 2009   Guangzhou Evergrande 2011 Chinese Super League champions 1st none   Tianjin Teda 2011 Chinese FA Cup winners 3rd 2011   Beijing Guoan 2011 Chinese Super League runners-up 4th 2010   Brisbane Roar 2010–11 A-League premiers 2011 A-League Grand Final winners 1st none   Central Coast Mariners 2010–11 A-League regular season runners-up 2nd 2009   Buriram United 2011 Thai Premier League champions 2011 Thai FA Cup winners 2nd 2009   Bunyodkor† 2011 Uzbek League champions 5th 2011 Qualifying play-off participants: East Zone   Pohang Steelers 2011 K-League 3rd place 4th 2010   Adelaide United 2010–11 A-League regular season 3rd place 4th 2010   Chonburi 2011 Thai Premier League runners-up 2nd 2008   Persipura Jayapura‡ 2010–11 Indonesia Super League champions 2nd 2010

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 of dates for 2012 competition.

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

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Semi-final Round
Esteghlal	2–0	Zob Ahan
Final Round
Al-Shabab	3–0	Neftchi Farg'ona
Esteghlal	3–1	Al-Ettifaq

East Zone

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Final Round
Pohang Steelers	2–0	Chonburi
Adelaide United	3–0	Persipura Jayapura

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

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JAZ	EST	RAY	NQA
1	Al-Jazira	6	5	1	0	18	10	+8	16	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	3–2	4–1
2	Esteghlal	6	3	2	1	8	3	+5	11			1–2	—	3–0	0–0
3	Al-Rayyan	6	2	0	4	9	12	−3	6			3–4	0–1	—	3–1
4	Nasaf Qarshi	6	0	1	5	4	14	−10	1			2–4	0–2	0–1	—

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ITT	YAS	PAK	ARA
1	Al-Ittihad	6	5	1	0	13	4	+9	16	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	4–0	3–2
2	Baniyas	6	3	2	1	9	2	+7	11			0–0	—	2–0	2–0
3	Pakhtakor	6	2	1	3	6	10	−4	7			1–2	1–1	—	3–1
4	Al-Arabi	6	0	0	6	4	16	−12	0			1–3	0–4	0–1	—

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SEP	AHL	NAS	LEK
1	Sepahan	6	4	1	1	9	4	+5	13	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–1	1–0	2–1
2	Al-Ahli	6	3	1	2	10	6	+4	10			1–1	—	3–1	3–0
3	Al-Nasr	6	2	0	4	6	11	−5	6			0–3	1–2	—	2–1
4	Lekhwiya	6	2	0	4	5	9	−4	6			1–0	1–0	1–2	—