AFC Professional Football Committee adopts key changes to elevate Asian club football
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Amendments to the Entry Regulations (Edition 2025), which will apply exclusively to the 2026/27 season, comprise revisions to slot allocation for Member Associations .

Group stage (East) chaged from 12 teams to 16. Korea’s slots up to 3+1 from 2+1. Presumably the group stage is still a “league” instead of going back to 4x4 groups. This means Gangwon have a chance at ACLE and FC Seoul are in ACL2.