By Andrew Warshaw
January 5 – Preparations for this week’s Asian Cup in Australia, the continent’s flagship competition, have been plunged into controversy after a warm-up game between two of the finalists was called off just moments before kickoff.
Saturday’s friendly outside Brisbane was cancelled following a row between the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait over whether the game should be recorded.
The players had even lined up in the tunnel before the fixture was scrapped when the UAE refused to agree to Kuwait’s request to film it.
In a statement on its website, the UAE Football Association said both sides had previously agreed to play the friendly behind closed doors without any broadcasting or media presence.
“The Kuwaiti delegation has unfortunately declined to adhere to the previous agreement under which an official letter was sent to the Kuwaiti FA on December 15, and clearly stipulated that the match should not be telecast, recorded or open for the media and the public,” it said.
“But the Kuwaitis insisted on filming the game and this was against the purposes of the technical staff of the UAE national team.”
Kuwait have failed to advance beyond the group stage in their last two appearances in 2004 and 2011 and have a tough draw against hosts Australia, South Korea and Oman. They play Australia in Friday’s opening game in Melbourne.
The UAE have been drawn alongside Iran, Bahrain and Qatar against whom they open on Sunday.
The fact that discussions took place right up until the players were about to take the field before breaking down completely represents the latest example of division within Asian football and is hugely embarrassing for the Asian Football Confederation just days before the start of its showpiece tournament.
There was no immediate statement from the Kuwaiti side but the UAE statement added: “The issue could have been settled especially as the Kuwaiti team had handed over the roster to the Australian referees, and the two teams lined up in the corridor, ready to enter the pitch, but the Kuwaiti team manager escalated the issue and threatened to cancel the game if their demand was not met.”
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