When it came down to it, Australia was never going to get more than two teams in the 2009 Asian Champions League, but the thoroughness of the AFC committee's assessment of the suitability of member associations to participate in Asia's elite club competitions revealed some interesting perception of Australian football and the A-League.
Under the new guidelines which will be considered, and most likely adopted by the AFC Executive in November, no member association may have more than one-third of its clubs involved in the competition. That means that no matter how FFA and the A-League fared in the AFC Pro League Ad-Hoc Committee's assessment, there will only ever be two Australian teams involved while the A-League remains an eight-team competition.
The debate over the new format, which puts participant club professionalism at a higher priority than a true representation of the confederation, will be heated over the next six months with several fringe nations missing out on automatic qualification, including Uzbekistan, Thailand, Vietnam and Syria. (The Syrian clubs have provided the biggest attendances in this year's group stage)
The big nations dominate, with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Japan, Korea and China set to supply 24 of the 32 teams in the competition while India, a traditional footballing minnow, has been given an automatic spot. Will this serve to re-affirm the difference between the haves and have nots of Asian football? Time will tell. But teams like Chonburi of Thailand, Kuruvchi of Uzbekistan and Al Karama of Syria will be all the poorer if they are unable to play at the elite club level.
Beyond that, the Committee's fastidious examination of the inner workings of member associations and their leagues shows just how far Australia, and the A-League, has to go to be genuinely considered one of the powerhouses of the region.
The Committee assessed each member associations on a series of criteria, with only 11 passing the overall level of satisfaction which will enable their teams to command spots in the Asian Champions League. Only Japan was said to meet every criteria, while the remaining 10 were assessed as likely to meet the criteria by October.
Australia fitted into the latter category, but a deeper analysis of the report revealed more about where the A-League sits in terms of it overall professionalism. On a points system based on the 10 key criteria, Australia took 306 from a possible 500 points, meaning it ranks seventh overall, just above Indonesia.
The three East Asian powerhouses, Japan, Korea and China, were well clear on top, followed by the three big west Asian leagues, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran.
Where Australia fell down significantly, according to the committee, was in organisation, technical standard, governance and soundness and business scale.
Where it has already reached elite levels of professionalism are in attendance, marketing and promotion, match organisation, stadium and clubs.
Considering the A-League is only three seasons old, those achievements should not be underestimated and it is apparent that the building blocks are there for an elite professional competition.
But the key issues which cost Australia some significant points in the assessment remain as a sticking point.
The Committee identified a lack of promotion and relegation in the elite competition as a concern, while it also expressed concerns over the entire governance and soundness structure, awarding Australia only a B in six of the eight categories.
It also said that the FFA's media rights structure lagged behind others, limiting business scale. This could also be due to the fact that the elite members of the AFC, such as Japan have a huge potential television audience, while Australia is limited somewhat by a 20 million population base.
All this acts a reminder that in the overall scheme of things, the A-League is still very much in its infancy. The competition has been a fantastic success, but it has a long way to develop yet in so many areas if it is to match the class, both on and off the field, of the big leagues of the region.