From TWG
Champions Newcastle Jets and premiers Central Coast Mariners are sitting on a goldmine after the announcement of a massive increase in the prize pool for the next AFC Champions League.
The Asian Football Confederation has announced that a huge incentive of $US14m ($A22.8m) will be up for grabs when the expanded ACL kicks off in 2009 with 32 teams instead of 28.
A-League 'will meet criteria'
ACL 'can match UCL'
The money on offer will provide clubs with extra motivation to meet the requirements to compete in the new event.
The total budget for the 2009 ACL is $US20m ($A32.6m), dwarfing the $US4m ($A6.5m) available for this year's event.
Of that, 70 per cent is dedicated to prizemoney and incentives, with the eventual winners taking home a prize of $US1.5m ($A2.4m) plus bonuses from earlier rounds.
Currently, $US600,000 ($A980,000) will be on offer for the winners of this year's final between Adelaide United and Gamba Osaka of Japan who meet in a home-and-away tie on November 5-12. The losers will pocket $US400,000 ($A650,000).
From next year the title will be decided by a single match.
The Jets and Mariners earned the right to play in next year's competition after winning the Grand Final and minor premiership respectively.
Jets coach Gary Van Egmond said the ACL's increased prizemoney should convince Football Federation Australia of the need to raise the salary cap of its A-League clubs in order that they be more competitive in Asia.
"A raised cap would enable us to get better players or at least retain the ones we have," he said.
"But then again Adelaide doing so well in Asia this year showed that it could be done with a limited budget."
Mariners executive chairman Lyall Gorman said A-League clubs needed to consolidate before entertaining any hopes of having the salary cap raised.
"We oppose the raising of the salary cap in the first five years because the last thing we need at this stage of our development is an inflationary situation," Gorman said.
"We can still do well in Asia with our current resources, as Adelaide have shown."
The new ACL budget means there is much more revenue for clubs participating in the tournament.
There also will be cash rewards at each stage of the competition, with a victory in the group stages worth a cool $US40,000 ($A65,000).
This means that even if a team cannot qualify for the round of 16, they still have an incentive to do well in the group matches.
The AFC is attempting to make football in the region more professional and has laid down tough new rules for entry into the 2009 ACL.
Teams wishing to play have had to satisfy the governing body that they meet certain standards regarding team affairs, attendances, marketing, stadiums and media arrangements.
So far 11 countries have made the grade with only Japan's J.League satisfying all the criteria. Japan will have four representatives in the next ACL.
PRIZEMONEY BREAKDOWN (IN $US)
Group stages: Win $40,000; draw $20,000; loss $0; away win $30,000.
Round of 16: $50,000
Quarter-finals: $80,000
Semi-finals: $120,000
Runners-up: $750,000
Champion: $1.5m
Champions Newcastle Jets and premiers Central Coast Mariners are sitting on a goldmine after the announcement of a massive increase in the prize pool for the next AFC Champions League.
The Asian Football Confederation has announced that a huge incentive of $US14m ($A22.8m) will be up for grabs when the expanded ACL kicks off in 2009 with 32 teams instead of 28.
A-League 'will meet criteria'
ACL 'can match UCL'
The money on offer will provide clubs with extra motivation to meet the requirements to compete in the new event.
The total budget for the 2009 ACL is $US20m ($A32.6m), dwarfing the $US4m ($A6.5m) available for this year's event.
Of that, 70 per cent is dedicated to prizemoney and incentives, with the eventual winners taking home a prize of $US1.5m ($A2.4m) plus bonuses from earlier rounds.
Currently, $US600,000 ($A980,000) will be on offer for the winners of this year's final between Adelaide United and Gamba Osaka of Japan who meet in a home-and-away tie on November 5-12. The losers will pocket $US400,000 ($A650,000).
From next year the title will be decided by a single match.
The Jets and Mariners earned the right to play in next year's competition after winning the Grand Final and minor premiership respectively.
Jets coach Gary Van Egmond said the ACL's increased prizemoney should convince Football Federation Australia of the need to raise the salary cap of its A-League clubs in order that they be more competitive in Asia.
"A raised cap would enable us to get better players or at least retain the ones we have," he said.
"But then again Adelaide doing so well in Asia this year showed that it could be done with a limited budget."
Mariners executive chairman Lyall Gorman said A-League clubs needed to consolidate before entertaining any hopes of having the salary cap raised.
"We oppose the raising of the salary cap in the first five years because the last thing we need at this stage of our development is an inflationary situation," Gorman said.
"We can still do well in Asia with our current resources, as Adelaide have shown."
The new ACL budget means there is much more revenue for clubs participating in the tournament.
There also will be cash rewards at each stage of the competition, with a victory in the group stages worth a cool $US40,000 ($A65,000).
This means that even if a team cannot qualify for the round of 16, they still have an incentive to do well in the group matches.
The AFC is attempting to make football in the region more professional and has laid down tough new rules for entry into the 2009 ACL.
Teams wishing to play have had to satisfy the governing body that they meet certain standards regarding team affairs, attendances, marketing, stadiums and media arrangements.
So far 11 countries have made the grade with only Japan's J.League satisfying all the criteria. Japan will have four representatives in the next ACL.
PRIZEMONEY BREAKDOWN (IN $US)
Group stages: Win $40,000; draw $20,000; loss $0; away win $30,000.
Round of 16: $50,000
Quarter-finals: $80,000
Semi-finals: $120,000
Runners-up: $750,000
Champion: $1.5m
