Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea won their first title, defeating Al-Ahli from Saudi Arabia with a 3–0 win in the final, and qualified for the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.

[6] On 30 November 2009, the AFC announced 12 more MA's that were keen to join the ACL, in addition to ten participating national associations.

The full list of candidate associations were as follows: Note: India, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have clubs taking part in play-offs to qualify for the group stages of ACL in 2010.

[15] The winners advanced to the group stage, while the losers of the final round advanced to the AFC Cup group stage,[16] except the loser of the match between Adelaide United and Persipura Jayapura.

[16] The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 June 2012.

[21] The final of the 2012 AFC Champions League was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by a draw.