Former star player Park Ji Sung presided over an important AFC meeting, with V-League securing two spots for Asian Cup competitions.

The meeting of the Professional Football Committee in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, chaired by chairman Park Ji Sung, the former Korean football star, confirmed that the 2026-2027 season will expand the AFC Champions League Elite (also known as the Asian C1 Cup) from 24 to 32 clubs.

The champion team of Vietnam's V-League will have a spot to participate in this top-tier tournament, but will not directly enter the group stage and will instead start from the playoff round. This also marks the first time since the 2024-2025 season that a representative from Vietnamese football will return to the AFC Champions League Elite.

Another representative of Vietnamese football, the runner-up of the V-League, will directly enter the group stage of the AFC Champions League Two (Asian C2 Cup).

With this allocation of spots, Vietnamese football officially has two places in the upcoming Asian cup competitions. This is because if the team competing in the Asian C1 Cup playoff fails, it will drop into the group stage of the C2 Cup.

In the C1 Cup playoff round, the representative from Vietnamese football, likely the V-League champion for the 2025-2026 season, which is expected to be CAHN Club, will face a Japanese opponent, possibly Kyoto Sanga Club, to compete for a spot in the next season's Asian C1 Cup group stage, as predicted by Footy Rankings.

However, the official determination of the playoff matchups will have to wait until the current season concludes.

According to information from this meeting, amendments to the Entry Regulations (2025 version) will be applied specifically for the 2026/27 season, including adjustments to slot allocations for Member Associations (MAs) in line with the expansion of the AFC Champions League Elite from 24 to 32 clubs, including the maximum number of slots allocated to each Member Association, as well as the introduction of a new slot for the runner-up of the AFC Challenge League to enter the preliminary round of the AFC Champions League Two.

Additionally, clarifications regarding sporting performance criteria, the principles for ranking AFC club competitions, and the process for applying nomination principles have been revised and provided. The AFC Club Licensing Regulations (2024 version) have also been amended; due to slot allocation adjustments, a new specific deadline for the club licensing application process under the "exception" category has been established.

Subsequently, the Entry Regulations (2026 version) will be applied from the 2027/28 season onward. Key updates include new requirements for Member Association eligibility criteria, most notably the mandatory implementation of the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) system in the top-tier national leagues of Member Associations participating in the AFC Champions League Elite.

Minimum requirements for domestic league structures, as well as the minimum number of matches each club must play in domestic competitions for Member Associations participating in the AFC Challenge League, have also been adjusted to reflect the current situation.

Regarding the AFC Club Licensing Regulations (2026 version), changes have been made following extensive consultation and review with Member Associations through a roadmap project starting in June 2025; these changes will take effect for the AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two, and AFC Challenge League from the 2027/28 sports season onward, and for the AFC Women’s Champions League from the 2028/29 season onward. Some criteria will be gradually upgraded over subsequent club licensing cycles, providing clubs with clearer requirements and facilitating implementation.