AFC Cup 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
VOV.VN - The 2020 edition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, Asia’s second-tier club competition, has been cancelled amid the COVID-19 fears, the AFC Executive Committee announced on September 10.
The competition had been suspended since last March due to the COVID-19 crisis and was originally scheduled to resume this month in centralised venues. However, the complex development of the coronavirus forced organisers to make an unwanted decision.
“In view of the logistics in coordinating the five zones of the AFC Cup and completing the Inter Zone matches, the Executive Committee agreed that the pandemic created complexities which constituted a Force Majeure event and led to the cancellation of the 2020 competition,” the AFC said.
The decision means two Vietnamese football clubs, Ho Chi Minh City FC and Quang Ninh FC, will miss the chance to compete in the event and instead they will focus on national tournaments, the National Cup and V. League.
Attending the AFC’s meeting held virtually, Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) vice president Tran Quoc Tuan said this was a rational decision given the current context, which allows national football tournaments to complete their fixtures.
The Asian football governing body also decided that the AFC Champions League, the continent’s showpiece competition, which has been suspended since March, will resume in West Asia hub Qatar on September 14.
East Zone matches are scheduled to be played between November 15 and December 13, 2020. The final will be played in the West Zone on December 19 as a standalone game rather than in the traditional home and away format.
Meanwhile, the AFC Futsal Championship has been pushed back by a month to December, while the AFC Solidarity Cup and AFC Futsal Club Championship UAE 2020 have been cancelled.
