Host country Thailand Runners-up Al-Shorta
(withdrew) Champion Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. Teams 8 Goals scored 43 | Venue(s) Bangkok Fourth place ROK Army Dates 21 Mar 1971 – 2 Apr 1971 Third place Esteghlal F.C. Matches played 14 | |
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The 1971 Asian Club Championship was the fourth edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation. Eight clubs from eight countries competed in the tournament. The tournament was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 21 March to 2 April. Eight clubs were split in two groups of four and the group winners and the runners-up advanced to semifinals.
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Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. (ISR) recorded their second Asian title after Al-Shorta (IRQ) refused to play against them in protest at the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Al-Shorta players instead waved the Palestinian flag and the Iraqi flag around the field, and journalists at the game described a "storm of applause" from the Thai fans in the stadium. They were regarded as the winners of the tournament in the Iraqi media (the Al-Mal'ab newspaper headline the following day read: "The Champions of Asia Return to Baghdad") and were greeted with a heroes' reception upon their return to the country. Israel were expelled from the AFC three years later (Maccabi now compete in UEFA competitions), leading to Al-Shorta being widely regarded by people across Asia as the winners of the tournament.
Preliminary Round
These are the group allocation matches. Each group will consist of two winners and two losers from this round.
Group B
1: Al-Shorta withdrew from this match, awarded to Maccabi.
1 The final was scratched and Maccabi Tel Aviv were awarded the championship after Al-Shorta players entered the field waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags around the pitch, refusing to play the Israeli side for political reasons.