[Sports Road News]The Asian Football Association (AFC) announced today (16th) that China has decided to give up the right to host the 2023 Asian Cup final week, and will actively communicate with stakeholders to discuss and announce the venue as soon as possible. This is another international competition that China has abandoned following the East Asian Championships final week and the two Diamond Athletics League. The Hangzhou Asian Games and the Chengdu Universiade will also be postponed.
AFC posted an “important update” on the venue of the Asian Cup on its official website today, referring to China’s decision to give up the hosting rights due to the special circumstances caused by the new pneumonia epidemic. The AFC expresses its gratitude to the Chinese government, the Chinese Football Association and the Finals Week Organizing Committee for making difficult but necessary decisions for the collective interests of the Asian Cup, and for providing enough time for the AFC to review the situation at other host locations. The statement continued that the AFC will actively communicate with various stakeholders, negotiate and announce the venue as soon as possible. The Organizing Committee of the Finals Week pointed out that it is currently difficult to promise and arrange for the event to be held in a fully open mode.
The 2023 Asian Cup Final Week was originally scheduled to be held in 10 Chinese cities from June 16 to July 6 next year, including Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing. 13 countries including the host China, the defending Qatar, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia have entered the final week, and the other 24 teams, including Hong Kong, will continue to compete for the qualifying competition next month.
In addition to the Asian Cup final week, China has given up holding the East Asian Championships final week and the two diamond track and field leagues in Shenzhen and Shanghai. The Hangzhou Asian Games and the Chengdu Universiade will also be postponed.
This article is by “Sportsroad“Originally published in “[Asian Cup]China gave up hosting next year’s final week and then gave up the right to host the competition」