The group stage of the upcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League this year will be played at centralized venues, according to the schedule of Asia's elite club competition on Monday.

The AFC Champions League 2021 group stage west region matches will be scheduled between April 14 to 30, while the east region matches are planned for April 21 to May 7, according to the schedule.

The knockout matches in the Round of 16 are scheduled for September 13 to 15 and the quarterfinals on September 27 to 29. Both rounds will be played as single matches.

The AFC Champions League semifinals will be held over two legs, on October 19 to 20, and October 26 to 27, before the two-legged finals on November 21 and 27.

The AFC Cup, Asia's secondary continental club competition, will adapt a similar format with the group stage played in centralized venues.

"Once again, the AFC will put the safety and welfare of all its stakeholders as its overriding priority, but we demonstrated with the successful AFC Champions League in 2020 that the unity, solidarity and strong leadership of the AFC can deliver its club competitions in the most challenging of times," said Windsor John, the AFC secretary-general.

The AFC had also decided to cancel a number of Asian competitions amid the global pandemic, including the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship in Bahrain and the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship in Uzbekistan, the 2020 AFC Futsal Championship in Kuwait, as well as the 2021 AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup in Thailand.