July 6 – The AFC has been forced to reorganise its competition calendar with the biggest casualties being the cancellations of the U17 Women’s Asian Cup Indonesia 2022 and the U20 Women’s Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2022 because of the risk to players, officials and public health caused by the coronavirus.
The competitions have now been shifted to 2024 and will be staged in the same countries.
The decision was taken by the AFC’s executive committee on the recommendation of the Women’s Football Committee. In a statement the AFC said it “acknowledged the importance to prioritise the health and safety of all stakeholders in particular, the Continent’s youth players against the backdrop of the ongoing uncertainty and challenges caused by the current pandemic.”
The challenges being faced of travel, quarantine and medical facilities by several of the AFC’s nations have also prompted the AFC to allow greater flexibility around the qualifiers for the Women’s Asian Cup India 2022.
Scheduled for September 13 to 25, 2021, the AFC said it “will now work with the relevant host Member Associations to finalise the competition dates to complete the Qualifiers.”
The AFC has also cancelled the Women’s Futsal Championship Kuwait 2020 and the AFC U20 Futsal Asian Cup 2021, while the men’s AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022 Qualifiers, originally scheduled for October 13 to 24, 2021 has been rescheduled to a window during April 1 to 15, 2022, with the Final competition moved from February 16 to 27 to September 25 to October 20.
In what is an encouraging commitment across the region to returning to competition, the AFC granted the request from a number of host member associations – who automatically qualify for the tournaments they are hosting – to be allowed to compete in the qualifiers. While they will be allowed to compete, their results will not be taken into account in the final group qualification rankings.
In a statement the AFC said: “The AFC Executive Committee also noted the preference of host Member Associations to gain valuable international exposure, technical preparation and hosting experience by participating in the qualifying competitions despite receiving an automatic spot in the Finals.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1736545841labto1736545841ofdlr1736545841owedi1736545841sni@n1736545841osloh1736545841cin.l1736545841uap1736545841
