ACL Elite: JDT third best club in Eastern Zone league

THE withdrawal of Chinese club Shandong Taishan FC from the 2024/25 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) campaign has seen Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) finish the Eastern Zone league competition in third place compared to the fourth.

Based on the latest update on the tournament’s official website https://www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_champions_league_elite/fixtures__standings.html, the Southern Tigers under Hector Bidoglio have moved up one place with 14 points after seven matches.

The 2015 AFC Cup champions and 10-time consecutive Super League champions have recorded four wins, two draws and one loss.

Two Japanese clubs Yokohama F. Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale are in the top two positions with 18 points and 15 points respectively.

Completing the top eight teams that have qualified for the round of 16 of the tournament are Gwangju FC from South Korea, Vissel Kobe (Japan), Buriram United (Thailand) as well as two Chinese representatives Shanghai Shenhua FC and Shanghai Port FC.

According to the competition format, JDT is scheduled to face Buriram United in the round of 16 action which will be held in a return match in March.

Yesterday, the AFC confirmed that Shandong Taishan is deemed to have withdrawn from the competition under Article 5.2 of the Competition Regulations after notifying them of its decision not to participate in the group stage match against Ulsan HD FC from South Korea scheduled for yesterday.