Australian football fans regularly complain about the alleged time wasting and feigning of injury employed by other countries in the Asian Confederation.

This kind of behaviour infuriates Australians who regard themselves – and their representatives – as morally above such shenanigans.

But, according to some, winning an advantage through trickery is a perfectly legitimate way of approaching the contest. It’s a cultural thing, so we shouldn’t be judging them.

The usual suspects tend to be the Arabic teams from West Asia – and I note we are about to play Saudi and Bahrain in the next window.

The impending cultural conflict causes me to wonder, is the Asian Football Confederation too big for its football boots?

I’ve written about this before so it’s about time the AFC took notice. The Asian Football Confederation is too big and ought to be split into east and west.

What’s more, the east should absorb Oceania, which is pretty much pointless as its own confederation. If they were involved in better competition they might evolve into something bigger. More on that below.

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There are some excellent reasons for splitting Asia.

For a start, Asia is huge. The travel logistics are a nightmare and very expensive for anyone without access to Petrodollars.

Asian tournaments – especially the Champions League – are hellish for travellers, so drawing a line just east of India would be a major benefit for all involved. Especially the junior teams and fans.

West Asia would have approximately 24 countries stretching from Bangladesh to Jordan, and the East would have all the rest, plus Oceania.

The second reason to split is that some of the Arabic nations have never wanted Australia in Asia and still subtly agitate for our expulsion.

They are not without influence, but such a split would permanently put an end to that Machiavellian politicking.

As we move into the last World Cup qualifying round for 2026, there are 48 places up for grabs.

Personally, I think 48 is too many but FIFA is clearly trying to get more of the smaller countries involved, which is fair enough, but it really does limit the countries with sufficient wealth and infrastructure to stage it.

This brings us to the third reason to split: with the money at West Asia’s disposal, hosting a World Cup Finals series, for whatever reason, is unlikely for any East Asian nation unless we become our own confederation.

FIFA now rotates the tournament so we’d have at least some chance every ten quadrennia, or so.

So, Asia, as it stands, has eight and a half places and Oceania one and a half.

If Asia were to be split as I’ve suggested, this would mean that West Asia and East Asia (+ Oceania) would share 10 places.

Logically, that would mean four and a half places for West Asia and five and a half for East Asia.

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Although, it might be argued on the basis of historical appearances that East Asia deserves an extra half-spot meaning West Asia four and East Asia six – the West would never agree to that.

The west, I imagine, would have Iran, Iraq, Saudi, Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Syria and Uzbekistan as the main contenders for a place at the World Cup.

Four and a half places massively improve the current chances of countries other than Iran and Saudi.

The east would have Australia, Japan, the Korean Republic, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand as main contenders, with New Zealand also a contender, for five and a half places.

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New Zealand would lose their pretty much guaranteed spot in Oceania but would find themselves in a far stronger talent pool which would have to be better for their football in the long term.

It would also give them and others access to the ACL (or EACL).

For the smaller football nations in both east and west, this would be a powerful incentive to improve as World Cup, and East Asian Cup qualification would be far less daunting than it is at present.

Also, the smaller countries would get more regular competition against stronger nations which can only be good for their football long term.

As for the Asian Cup, the champions of east and west could play off home and away to decide the Asian Super Cup.

So for economic, logistic, political, cultural and football reasons, the split is a really good idea.

East is east and west is west, and only occasionally the twain should meet.