When the final whistle was blown, the Korean guests celebrated in the madness at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, in Al-Ain.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are the new Asian champions after a 3:2 victory against Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates.
Celebrating a title is a familiar situation for the Korean side. A few weeks ago, Jeonbuk won their third consecutive K-League title. These celebrations haven't lasted long, as the Korean FA deducted 9 points and Jeonbuk fell to the 2nd place.
On a given day, Jeonbuk could have been the hero of this tragic incident. Nevertheless, in Asian football reality, nothing is ordinary or given. Instead of being a hero, Jeonbuk is actually the team that every football fan should never want it to be a champion.
A few months ago, a refereeing scandal was on the headlines of Korean football. Gyeongnam, a team that relegated a few years ago to the second division, was founded guilty for bribing referees. These allegations were the kick-off for a much bigger story.
Referees admitted that mega-club Jeonbuk was also involved in such violation.
The police investigation revealed that the club bribed referees in at least five matches. Korean football fans hoped that Jeonbuk would be punished harshly, but it seems that it will be far from that. It was the right moment for a brand new start for Korean football.
But the Korean FA had a different idea. There were several reasons why Jeonbuk wouldn't be punished. The club claimed that the referees' approaches included requests for "favourable decisions" during the matches, and not a wish to fix the results and win the match. Besides, Jeonbuk wasn’t running a systematic payment method for the referees but paid only a few times, and at last - the fact that none of the club’s high-level officials was involved.
Eventually, the Korean FA disciplinary committee decided on only 9 points deduction and a fine of 100 million Won (85,000 dollars).
At the same time, the AFC also fought against match-fixing. In recent months, AFC punished and suspended many players, officials and teams due to their part in match-fixing incidents. Recently, U-16 North Korea's goalkeeper and manager been suspended for a year because of such cases.
The AFC decided to ignore the allegations against Jeonbuk and took no actions in this case. Maybe it's because of the decision date, after the semifinal first leg. But there reasons to think there is something else behind the decision of the highest football body in Asia.
Jeonbuk is a much popular team than their AFC Champions League semifinal opponents, FC Seoul. The money plays its role when the AFC officials look at the empty stands in Seoul compared to the almost sold-out home matches of Jeonbuk. Add the lucrative and powerful sponsor of the team – Hyundai Motors, and you get the idea.
Jeonbuk kept its place in this season AFC Champions League, all the way to the title. They will also play in next year tournament. It seems that the AFC have a different point of view when it comes to match-fixing.
When you read that, remember the Italian Calciopoli a decade ago. Juventus, one of the greatest clubs in Europe, was relegated to Serie B and their titles were stripped. It took several years until Juventus has recovered and their punishment affected all patterns of Italian football.
No matter if Al Ain was worth the Champions League title or not, Jeonbuk is obviously not the team that football fans should like to see as champions. It represents everything that is bad modern football, even if it's made in a minor stage than Europe. Big teams with big money are preferred on sporting issues and our passion for football.
So what we have to do as football addicts? In a few weeks, Jeonbuk will participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. Their first opponents will be CONCACAF champions, Club América of Mexico. All we want is just a heavy defeat by the Mexicans, which will prove that the real football, the one that we love, has not died yet.
Vamos América!