ASIAN SUPER LEAGUE

Plans to establish a European Super League were made public in April 2021 and blew up to become a huge story in football, business and politics. The short-lived saga was watched around the world. Anger from fans, media and other stakeholders helped to put paid to the new project, temporarily at least. Asian football would kill for such an outcry, such passion and interest. When, almost a year later, the first whispers of a possible Asian Super League were heard, the reaction was much more low-key.

It started with a press release from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that dropped in journalists’ inboxes from Jeddah to Jakarta. More details started to emerge but still not enough to provoke the kind of response seen to the west. Twas ever thus. A lack of passion in Asia when it comes to Asian club football has been a chronic problem – some countries don’t even