The AFC
The AFC’s National Team and Club competitions, as well as the AFC Futsal Championship planned for Turkmenistan, have been postponed since February and March but, thanks to the support of the Members, Leagues, and Clubs, there is a determination to finish the competitions this year, www. the-afc.com reported.
Dato’ Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary, said: “The AFC Administration has been in constant dialogue with our MAs, Leagues, and Clubs in recent weeks so that we can establish a clear picture of the opportunities that exist in each MA.
“During those discussions which began in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Dubai, and Delhi in February and March, and have continued online ever since, we have looked to agree a calendar of matches that will allow us to complete both the club competitions and centralised tournaments in 2020.”
The venues for the centralised groups to be used for both the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup are to be confirmed. All of the planned group stage matches will be played in full while the knock-out rounds will now consist of single match ties (rather than home & away), as will the Final of both competitions.
The AFC Champions League group stage in West Asia to be played in September, followed by knockout stages with semifinals to be completed by early October. The remaining matches of East Asia’s group stage will be played from midOctober, with the knockout stage to be played in November.
The AFC will also look to conclude the age-group National Team and Futsal tournaments in 2020 with the new schedule involving: AFC U-19 Championship Uzbekistan October 14 to 31, 2020; AFC Futsal Championship Turkmenistan November 4 to15, 2020; AFC U-16 Championship Bahrain November 25 to December 12, 2020; AFC Futsal Club Championship UAE December 2 to 13, 2020.
The Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Second Round, which were postponed from March, June and September, have already been rearranged for October and November 2020.