Islamic Republic of Iran's Persepolis, who lost 2-0 to Kashima Antlers on aggregate in this year’s final, will begin their campaign in the West Zone’s Group D where they have Qatar's Al Saad SC, Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli Saudi FC and the Play-off 1 (UAE/UZB/IRQ) winners for company.

In the AFC Champions League – which is already one of the richest continental competitions in world football – clubs stand to earn over US$60,000 per match from the group stage to the semi-finals, with the total contribution rising from US$4.2 million last year to US$8.4 million next year.

Meanwhile, in the AFC Cup, the total travel contribution has doubled from US$2.94 million in 2018 to US$5.88 million in 2019.

Fresh from winning the 2018 AFC Champions League - their first Continental crown - Kashima will face Urawa Red Diamonds in the Emperor's Cup semi-finals on December 5.

Should Kashima defeat Urawa - which will be a meeting between the last two AFC Champions League winners - they will face Vegalta Sendai or Montedio Yamagata in the final four days later.

The Emperor's Cup is important to both Kashima and Urawa as emerging champions would mean automatic entry to the group stage of the 2019 AFC Champions League.

The 20-year-old Hong Konger scored a dramatic winner in Matchday Four against Kashiwa Reysol that ensured a historic first AFC Champions League win for both his club Kitchee SC and, indeed, the first victory in the competition for Hong Kong.

The presence of the female fans for the first time in 40 years in an official match at the Azadi Stadium was due to the efforts of AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, together with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran.

More than 1,000 female football fans joined a capacity crowd for the Continental showpiece which saw Kashima Antlers emerge champions for the first time.

The female fans shared their excitement and joy at being in the Azadi Stadium on social media.

The 22-year-old played a key role as Japan’s Kashima Antlers sealed their maiden continental crown with a 0-0 second leg draw away to Persepolis of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Saturday, after winning the first leg of the final 2-0.

The young Japan star was in no doubt as to the magnitude of the team’s success, and is sure it is a triumph he will look back on with great pride in years to come.

Coming into the game with a two-goal advantage enabled Kashima to play a waiting game in the second leg, and they pressed and harried for 90 minutes to see themselves crowned as kings of the continent.