Yesterday, the Asian Football Confederation delegation held an emergency meeting, which lasted for more than two hours, in the presence of representatives of West Asian federations, including the Football Association, to discuss the possibility of postponing matches in the joint qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Their holding in March of this year, as well as the matches of the AFC Champions League 2020 clubs, in order to ensure the safety of the players and the public, following the current health developments in the region, due to fears of the outbreak of the Corona virus emerging (Coved 19), while officials in the AFC refused after Disclosure meeting p The recommendations they reached regarding setting new dates for holding the next round's matches in these qualifiers, and the Football Association is expected to issue an official decision tomorrow regarding the postponement of the next two rounds in the World Cup qualifiers, while the Secretary-General of the Football Association, Mohammed bin Hazam Al Dhaheri, confirmed The meeting with the AFC delegation presented some proposals regarding the AFC Champions League 2020, in addition to other proposals by the Saudi side, and all proposals and options will be studied by the continental federation in a broad way to take decisions that are in the public interest. In a press statement after the meeting, the Secretary-General of the Football Association said in response to a question regarding the upcoming national camp this month in preparation for the Malaysia and Indonesia matches: «At the present time, we cannot confirm the national team’s establishment until after the FIFA decision is expected tomorrow.
Bin Hazam added: “The matters related to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers are heading towards postponement, and we have scenarios to face the situation, after consulting with the new Football Association Board or the Transitional Committee in the event of the decision before the announcement of the new council.”
The national team plays in the joint qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup, in the seventh group that includes the teams of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, and the team has played so far four games in these qualifiers, during which it won two games against Malaysia and Indonesia, and lost in two games also in front of Both Thailand and Vietnam.