The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host the elite Champions League finals in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.
Let us remind that from next season, the 24 best clubs of the Asian continent will be divided into two groups of 12 teams in the Western and Eastern regions. They will play home and away matches in the League for the right to reach the round of 16, where the eight winners will advance to the final stage.
Within the framework of the biggest reforms in the history of Asian club football, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played in Saudi Arabia as one match.
The decisive matches of the final stage of the elite AFC Champions League 2024/25 are scheduled from April 25 to May 4, 2025. The winner of the tournament will receive a record prize pool of 12 million dollars.
This is three times more than the 4 million dollars allocated for this season's AFC Champions League champion. Also, the award for the finalist will triple – up to 6 million instead of 2 million dollars.
It is noted that on September 12, 2023, the AFC sent invitations to all its member associations to express interest in hosting the final stage of the elite AFC Champions League for at least two seasons starting from 2024/25.
As a result, the football associations of Iraq and Saudi Arabia submitted applications. After assessing the infrastructure and all operational aspects, the applicant country was selected by the organizer.
Saudi Arabia has also secured the rights to host the tournament for the next three seasons, from 2026/27 to 2028/29. This decision will be reviewed depending on the success of the first drawings and other factors, the statement said.
