Asian Football Confederations cancels AFC Cup 2020, Champions league to be delayed

by Chittu Shetty September 12, 2020

Asian football Confederation on Thursday announced the cancellation of AFC Cup 2020 along with the delays to Champions League matches because of the corona virus pandemic

Citing the logistics difficulties in coordinating the five zones of the AFC Cup and completing the Inter Zone matches, the AFC Executive Committee has agreed on cancelling the AFC Cup 2020 edition. In its press release, AFC Executive Committee confirmed that the pandemic created complexities which constituted a Force Majeure event leading to the cancellation of the 2020 competition.

After Bengaluru FC bowed out of the competition in qualifier stage, India’s lone representative in the AFC Cup competition remained 2018-19 I league winners Chennai City FC. The club was drawn in Group E alongside Basundhara Kings (Bangladesh), TC Sports Club, and Maziya Sports and Recreation Club (both from the Maldives). , Chennai City had started out decently having played out a 2-2 draw in the opening group fixture against Maziya SC, when the tournament was put on hold.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

💔 #AFCCup2020 and AFC Futsal Club 2020 will be cancelled.

💙 #AFCU16 and #AFCU19 will be postponed to early 2021.

💚 AFC Futsal Championship 2020 will now be in 🇰🇼 Kuwait from December 2-13https://t.co/m2SHEOT9uQ

— AFC (@theafcdotcom) September 10, 2020

AFC had hoped to restart the Cup competition by hosting matches in four host countries, but following a meeting of the executive committee Thursday they decided to call off the tournament. “These are tough times for everyone connected with football — and sport in general,” said AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa.

The AFC Solidarity Cup has also been cancelled because of the Force Majeure event and will now be played in 2024 and the AFC Futsal Club Championship UAE 2020 will be cancelled with the United Arab Emirates hosting the next event in 2021.

Meanwhile, some matches in the Champions League, which is all set to resume from next week in Qatar — would be further delayed and the single-leg final will now take place on December 19.

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