Asian Women's Champions League: A chance to accelerate

The preliminary stage of the first season of the Asian AFC Women's Champions League (ACWL) is set to kick off on Sunday, August 25 with 13 clubs from countries such as Nepal, Myanmar, Singapore and India competing to qualify and join eight direct entrants in the group stage.

While Asia's women have had some success at the national team level, with Japan winning the 2011 World Cup and China reaching the final in 1999, the continent's clubs have yet to make an impact. They vary wildly in terms of standards, resources and infrastructure. But some believe that a well-structured continental competition could make a difference. 

"It's a significant opportunity for clubs to accelerate onto the regional and global stage," Moya Dodd, a former Australian international and former executive committee member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA Council, told DW. 

Investing to narrow the gap

"The reality is that investment in Europe and the US is greater than in Asia right now, so those leagues are attracting the best players," Dodd said. "Unless Asia matches that investment, the gap won't close."

According to the Asian Football Confederation, clubs that participate in the group stages will receive at least $100,000 (€109,000), with the eventual winners in line for around $1.3 million, a significant sum for women's clubs in Asia. 

It is not just about what happens on the pitch, but off it too. The men's Champions League in Asia has sometimes struggled to engage the continent's fans, and it will a be challenge for the new women's competition to shine in a crowded sports marketplace.

"It's important to work with media and commercial partners to make sure the competition gets genuine support," Dodd said. "We know that fans of women's football are very brand loyal and valuable to sponsors. However, a new competition will require a conscious effort to build the fan base."

A new challenge for Lion City Sailors

There have been positive signs around Asia, with Singapore being a prime example. 

"There is growing interest in women's football, with live streams of some of our games and people coming to the stadium," Ho Hui Xin, midfielder for the Lion City Sailors, the two-time defending champions of the nine-team Singapore Women's Premier League, told DW.

"Support wise it is getting better. It will be a good experience and chance for us to compete at this level," added the veteran player, who will be heading to Jordan, where the Sailors face Odisha FC of India and Jordanian team Etihad in the preliminary stage.

"I am very excited to be playing in the Champions League," added Hui Xin, who noted that a group of supporters were expected to travel with them. "Our team is a mix of young and senior players so I think it is really about showing what we have trained for. We have not had this kind of experience before, so we are looking forward to it."

Japan's WE League, established in 2020, was Asia's first fully professional league, but at many women's football clubs around the continent, the players have to juggle the demands of the beautiful game around other commitments. 

"None of us is [professional] actually, we either have schooling or day jobs," Hui Xin said. "Women's sport in Singapore is like that. Even though we are not professional, we still make arrangements for this, to step it up a notch."

For women's football to really thrive around Asia, Japan's situation has to become the norm. If the Champions League is a success, then it can help achieve such goals.

Top of a pyramid of strong leagues

While the first edition of the Champions League is important, what really matters is how things will look in five or 10 years' time.

"Ideally it will be a competition that sits atop several strong, professional leagues that produce champions that can compete internationally," Dodd said. "And ideally, every club in those top leagues will have a roster of full-time professional players."

However, the former Australia international is concerned about the danger of this tournament steering the women's game in Asia in the direction of Europe's male equivalent. There, clubs that qualify continuously for the Champions League gain considerable financial advantages over their domestic rivals, which can have implications for the competitiveness of their own leagues.

"All the top leagues in Asia are still developing and face challenges such as the gap between top and bottom," Dodd said. "The AWCL must avoid simply taking the best club and making it stronger and richer to the detriment of the rest. Creating professional opportunities for women in all top-league clubs should be the goal, not just to support the top few to accelerate away from the rest."

Just the beginning?

Even so, there needs to be a pathway for clubs from countries such as Myanmar, Singapore and Laos to compete the rest of the world.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has talked of the importance of a FIFA Club Women's World Cup and targeted a 16-team tournament to start early in 2026.

"To this date, we don't have a global club competition for women," Infantino noted earlier this year. "Yet we are asking clubs to form women's clubs all over the world. We need to give players an opportunity to perform as well on the global stage and to develop themselves in all the continents of the world."

However, such thoughts are far from the mind of Hui Xin as she focuses on the upcoming challenges from India and Jordan.

"We are looking to qualify from the preliminary stage and get to the next round where there will be a lot of quality teams," she said.

"We will try our best and we hope to play the style of football that we want to."

Edited by: Chuck Penfold