DAMMAM: Football in Asia has never been an easy task to manage. Long flights, numerous time zones, conflicting calendars, vastly different football cultures and — perhaps more than any other confederation in the world — politics. While the war in the Middle East falls under the AFC’s umbrella, its direct effects have so far been limited to the clubs in West Asia. Asian football has long been structured around regions, with competitions split between East and West, although for a period, the second-tier AFC Cup operated in five separate regions.