Asia’s top soccer competitions would go ahead this year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official told reporters, although matches might have to be played behind closed doors.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general secretary Dato Windsor John said he was confident that the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup would both be completed.
Both tournaments, featuring teams from throughout Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East, are on hold until at least the end of June after the novel coronavirus shuttered professional sport worldwide.
“Both will be played this year. We still have time,” John told reporters, adding that new dates for the competitions might be known by the end of this month.
However, he did not rule out matches being played without fans, “if that’s what the health authorities need.”
The AFC is determined for both tournaments to go ahead “for sporting reasons and to fulfill commercial obligations,” John said.
His comments came after the AFC on Tuesday announced the indefinite postponement of all matches scheduled for next month and June due to the coronavirus.
The Champions League, the region’s premier club competition, and the second-tier AFC Cup were both halted last month as the pandemic’s spread forced governments to impose strict travel restrictions.
Both tournaments are on an increasingly tight schedule, with the 32-team Champions League needing to complete four rounds of group-stage matches in July before the postponed knockout phase begins in August.
The group phase of the AFC Cup would also have to be completed in a rush once matches resume.
The finals for both tournaments — which traditionally take a break in July to avoid the worst of the Asian summer heat — are scheduled to take place in November.
Domestic leagues remain on hold worldwide, including in China, where the virus first emerged, but where soccer shows no sign of returning, despite optimism that the outbreak is under control.
Asia’s extended shutdown also affects the two-legged women’s Olympic qualifying playoff between China and South Korea, which had already been moved to June 1 and June 9.
June qualifiers for the men’s 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup had been postponed before the AFC’s announcement on Tuesday.
Asian soccer was an early sporting casualty of the pandemic, before competitions in Europe — including Euro 2020 — and the rest of the world were also affected.
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