December 17 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has called on Australia to beef up security for next month’s Asian Cup following this week’s fatal hostage siege in Sydney.
The AFC says it will be monitoring safety plans in the wake of the incident that left two hostages dead along with the gunman.
Sydney is one of five host venues, along with Newcastle, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. AFC general secretary Alex Soosay said the confederation ”is concerned about the developments in Sydney and can in no way put the safety of the players, fans and media at stake.”
“Thousands of media and fans will be travelling to Australia for the competition,” he said. “Their security is our utmost priority.”
“We have asked Australia’s local organising committee] to provide extra security in team and AFC hotels, as well as police escorts for all official activities, in addition to an increase in security across all venues.”
The Asian Cup is the continent’s biggest football tournament and features 16 teams from across the region, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Palestine, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea. The event will be held in Australia for the first time from 9-31 January next year.
“Australia has successfully hosted many prestigious events in the past but the recent developments cannot be taken lightly,” added Soosay. “I would like to assure the teams, fans and the media that ALOC will do whatever necessary to provide the best security cover around the competition and everyone will enjoy the best-ever AFC Asian Cup.”
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