Is this why you're going to play the World Cup? Bitterness I experienced in ACLE Final, why on earth?

May 08, 2025

Is this why you're going to play the World Cup? Bitterness I experienced in ACLE Final, why on earth?
ReutersYonhap News



There is a lot of controversy over the 2024-2025 Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE), which ended with the victory of Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia).

The tournament was changed to a way in which East-West Asian clubs meet in one place from the quarterfinals to determine the winner with a single-round match tournament. The ACLE Final in Jeddah was virtually a home for the three Saudi teams that reached the quarterfinals. They all reached the semifinals, and Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) was the only East Asian team to beat Al Nasr, but eventually lost to Al Ahli and had to be satisfied with the runner-up.

The Japanese J-League is Kawasaki and Yokohama F, who played in the ACLE Final.A charter flight was carried out to support Marinos. Both team players used business seats, and even players who were not assigned business seats were allowed to use the third row seats alone to minimize fatigue. In addition to the players of both teams, J-League officials were accompanied on the charter flight. When they arrived in Saudi Arabia, they wore private jet arrivals and held local welcoming events, creating an exciting atmosphere.




Is this why you're going to play the World Cup? Bitterness I experienced in ACLE Final, why on earth?
ReutersYonhap News
But there must have been shadows, too. The Football Zone, a Japanese soccer media outlet that accompanied the chartered flight, reported on the 8th that `the Saudi reporters who applied a month before departure did not come out until the day of departure' and 'we had no choice but to buy a tourist visa at the arrival hall and get it issued'. He added that `there were no immigration documents at the arrival hall of a private jet, so they were stranded for five hours.' Some of them suffered damage to expensive equipment because ground personnel at local airports threw their luggage.' Looking at various issues such as visas, he commented that there was no choice but to raise concerns about whether Saudi Arabia would be able to properly host international competitions such as the Asian Cup and World Cup in the future as well as ACLE. Saudi Arabia will host the 2027 Asian Cup and will host the 2034 World Cup.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.