The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-Asian club competition organised by Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The tournament was started in 1990–91 and ran for 12 seasons, with the final edition held in 2001–02, after which it was discontinued and merged into the Asian Club Championship to form the AFC Champions League.

The most successful clubs in the competition were Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia and Yokohama F. Marinos from Japan with two titles each.

For the first edition, seventeen teams took part registered and it was the Iranian club of Persepolis who were the first winners, after defeating the Bahraini Al-Muharraq in the final.

Al-Hilal won the last championship in 2001–02, defeating Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.