2 Jan 2009(Fri)

December 30, 2008: I am not anti-Reysol by any means, but I hope Gamba Osaka win the Emperor's Cup final on New Year's Day.

Calm down, Yellow Monkeys, the reason is simple: Gamba should be in the Asian Champions League already for next season, without having to win the Emperor's Cup in order to defend their continental crown.

Amidst all the format changes made by the Asian Football Confederation, I am wondering if they forgot about the defending ACL champions when deciding how to allocate the 32 places in the expanded competition.

Surely the holders should have been given automatic entry into the following season's event, not only as a reward for winning but also because it makes sense from a marketing and media point of view. The progress of the defending champions is always news, giving the event identity and building up the profile of the clubs around Asia and further afield.

In recent times the AFC went overboard by giving the defending champions a bye into the last eight -- equally ridiculous, as Reds reached the ACL semi-finals last season with a record of one win and one defeat -- but now they have gone completely the other way and forced the holders to qualify.

And the AFC did not stop there. Even though they gave Japan the maximum four spots for next year, the regulations stated that these places must be filled by the top three teams in the league, plus the winner of the main domestic cup.

So while Antlers, Frontale and, to a lesser extent, Grampus can enjoy a nice holiday and think about next season, poor old Gamba are still having to toil away as their injury toll rises.

I don't see why the cup-winners should be guaranteed a place in the Champions League anyway. It's supposed to be for the top teams from the top countries in Asia, and these do not necessarily include the cup-winners. Why should Reysol or either of the two beaten semi-finalists in the Emperor's Cup, FC Tokyo or Marinos, be included in next season's Champions League, especially at the expense of Gamba?

Rather than stipulating that the top three in the league, plus the winner of the main cup competition, should fill Japan's four places, the AFC might have been better to state that Japan's four places must include the ACL holders. The league table would provide the remaining three teams. Had Gamba finished third in J1, for example, the team in fourth place would have qualified for the ACL. The league provides the strongest teams, not the Emperor's Cup.

The same rule could have applied for all nations, meaning that one of their allocations for the following season must be filled by the defending champions, in order to maintain balance across the region.

Gamba should not be in this position of having to qualify for next season's ACL -- and I am sure the AFC will be hoping they win the Emperor's Cup to dig them out of this administrative hole.

One year Gamba represent Asia against Manchester United in the FIFA Club World Cup and attract world attention; the next they disappear from view. Doesn't make sense.

ends