AFC shares details for inaugural Women’s Champions League competition

The GIST: Women’s soccer is growing globally, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s Women’s Champions League is a key example of this. The inaugural tournament will kick off this August after piquing the interest of 22 of the confederation’s 47 member nations and announcing $1.3M in prize money. All around the world.

The format: The AFC Women’s Champions League’s preliminary stage will whittle down the main tournament field to 12 teams, followed by quarter-finals in March 2025, then semifinals and a championship in May 2025. The AFC confirmed that each team in the group stage will receive at least $100K, with the opportunity to earn more based on the final standings.

The context: Europe kicked things off in 1955 with the UEFA men’s Champions League, eventually followed by the UEFA Women’s Champions League in 2001. Similarly, AFC has hosted a men’s Champion’s League since 1967, but its women’s competition has taken years to get off the ground.

• However, AFC’s women’s league isn’t starting far behind its male or European counterparts — only 23 AFC nations entered the men’s inaugural tournament, and the $1.3M prize money is comparable to UEFA Women’s Champions League’s winnings, despite the 23-year head start.

The trend: As interest in women’s soccer grows, the market outside of the FIFA Women’s World Cup allows regional soccer governing bodies to hold and improve such competitions. Concacaf announced its own Women’s Champions Cup this March, while UEFA outgrew its current Women’s Champions League format and revamped it for 2025.

Zooming out: By all metrics, the AFC’s Women’s Champions League is off to a promising start — half of its member clubs are interested, pilot editions have drawn sizable crowds, and it's helping to showcase the growth of Saudi Arabian women’s soccer.

• Better yet, this allows Australia and Asia — especially Japan, which has developed a deep talent pool — to grow further as a hub for international soccer and compete with leagues like the NWSL and WSL. All up in the news.