AFC Champions League (East) to be staged in Doha

The AFC Champions League (East) is to be played in Doha, Qatar after an agreement was reached on Friday between the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Qatar Football Association (QFA).

The AFC Champions League (East), which will be played between November 18 and December 13.

Qatar successfully hosted the AFC Champions League West Zone tournament which took place from September 14 to October 3 with a secure bio-bubble and COVID-19 restrictions in place.

Dato Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary, said: "We are extremely grateful for the outstanding support of the QFA and are pleased that we can now build on the success of the AFC Champions League (West) while looking forward to the remaining exciting matches in Asia's premier club competition."

"We recognise the huge amount of work undertaken by the QFA, in conjunction with the AFC, the Qatar Local Authorities and Ministries, to ensure the smooth delivery of the AFC Champions League (West) and we look forward to a similarly positive collaboration for the AFC Champions League (East)," he added.

The AFC Champions League (East) will resume from the Group Stage and continue through the Round of 16 to the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The venue for the final, which is scheduled to be played on December 19 will be confirmed in due course.

QFA Secretary-General Mansoor Alansari said: "We are very happy to provide a safe environment for the AFC in order to complete the AFC Champions League and look forward to hosting the leading clubs from the East Zone during November and December. Qatar knows how important football is for Asia. So we are pleased to be able to offer the world-class sporting infrastructure and operational and health and safety expertise that exists in the country to allow for the resumption of competitive Continental football once again."

( With inputs from ANI )