Empty stadiums for Marouane Fellaini and Keisuke Honda point to AFC failings

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  • A dose of reality then, for both Champions League organisers, the AFC, and its latest stellar recruits who had no discernible impact on attendances – or interest.

    Shandong Luneng’s Marouane Fellaini and Melbourne Victory’s Keisuke Honda headed the list of celebrated tournament debutants on Tuesday when action in the east kicked off. To a, relative, whimper.

    A pair of names instantly recognisable to most football fans. Their presences, however, could not prevent vast swathes of Changwon Football Center and AAMI Park, respectively, from being unoccupied.

    Sanfrecce Hiroshima later in the day felt emboldened, or apathetic, enough to inflict a graver indignity. The J1 League runners-up sent out a reserve team to meet Chinese behemoth Guangzhou Evergrande, in direct contravention of section 3.3 in the AFC regulations.

    They are not the first of their countrymen throughout recent seasons to be so brazen, either.

    This is competition whose other regional variants are, largely, relished across the globe. Why should Asia be different, especially at a time when plentiful premium talents have been attracted to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, Japan and Australia?

    Significant blame has to be attached to the AFC. A staid body that oversees an asset whose yields do not represent any relation to returns on club investments, plus appears, ostensibly, focused on acquiescing to sponsors’ demands rather than meaningfully engaging with supporters.

    A feeling was tangible that Asian Cup 2019 was promoted by them with less vigour than they hunted out and erased non-affiliated branding.

    Whatever the continued failings of Local Organising Committees [LOCs] or the clubs themselves, responsibility must rest at headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

    This aforementioned trait continued in Melbourne during midweek, Fox Sports Australia reporter Daniel Garb tweeting: “This is high quality football in our backyard. If only the AFC put the same energy into promoting the competition that they do into covering up brands of coffee…”

    Japan icon Honda’s ACL bow was met with indifference Down Under – and a harrowing 3-1 home loss to Korea first-timers Daegu FC. Such a sparse scene rarely, if ever, greeted his exploits for the likes of CSKA Moscow, AC Milan and Mexico’s Pachuca.

    Only 5,572 turned up. The 2018/19 A-League average for the venue is 21,328.

    Tuesday featured some comedown for Belgium power house Fellaini. He was lolloping about in front of 74,994 fans every other weekend until he became a victim of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s quiet revolution at Manchester United last month.

    Now, the 31-year-old anchored midfield at a half-empty arena for the rollercoaster 2-2 draw with South Korea’s Gyeongnam FC. Reported remuneration of £9.5 million per year, after tax, does act as decent recompense.

    Prescribed programmes to entice the uninitiated in Asian towns and cities would help.

    In the 68-page rulebook for the 2019 ACL, section 46.1 explicitly attempts to absolve the AFC of any culpability about ticketing. It reads: “Each Host Club shall be responsible for the production, distribution and sales of all Tickets.”

    The phrase “marketing” is mentioned only three times in this document, “promotional” just four times.

    More onus should be placed on the AFC to foster these areas. There is ample evidence that the current arrangement does not adequately function.

    AFC Champions League: Group Stage - Melbourne Victory v Deagu

    So, too, the allocation of places. India and Indonesia boast enormous populations, but no direct entries.

    Thailand and Malaysia have only one guaranteed spot each, despite being burgeoning football areas.

    The booming success of the AFF Suzuki Cup – fought between ASEAN countries, with 2018’s event boasting an average attendance of 28,959 – points towards continental neglect. It is hoped that a fresh regional focus for the lesser AFC Cup – comparable to the Europa League – is designed to be a test bed.

    Ignoring the difficulties faced by the AFC would be inequitable.

    Prize money for the 2018 ACL winners was raised by $1m to $4m. From the round of 16 to the semi-finals, reward was scaled from $50,000-$250,000.

    Decade-long television deals worth $2 billion and $1.8bn recently signed by Japan’s J1 League and Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Professional League, however, have warped priorities.

    Plus, a culture of physically attending matches in some territories simply is not ingrained like in Europe or South America.

    But can the AFC credibly argue that they have established, developed and cemented a genuine connection between clubs and their flagship competition?

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