The AFC Champions League will feature centralised venues once again when it returns in 2021, but there was less positive news for the AFC Under-19 and Under-16 Championships as both were cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday evening, the Asian Football Confederation announced updates to the 2021 competition calendar and, after the success of a centralised venue in last year's ACL, this season's group stage will once again feature teams being consolidated in host cities.
Exact locations are yet to be finalised but the West Zone action will take place from Apr. 14-30, while the East Zone has a slightly later schedule of Apr. 27 to May. 7.
This year's ACL campaign is set to be the biggest ever in competition history, following its expansion to include 40 teams in the group stage.
Similarly, the second-tier AFC Cup will also have its group stage held in centralised venues, but will now have a single-match round-robin format, meaning teams will have just three games rather than the usual six to qualify for the knockout stage.
But, on the international front, the AFC made the decision to call off the U-19 and U-16 Championships, which are among four tournaments that have been culled due to COVID-19 concerns.
Both competitions had already been postponed from last year, with the U-19s originally set to take place in Uzbekistan while Bahrain would have hosted the U-16s.
In an official statement, AFC general secretary Windsor John said: "We are grateful for the support of the hosts for these competitions who agreed with the AFC the need to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders during this time of uncertainty and taking into consideration the risks of the current pandemic."