The FIFA and the Asian Football Confederations have officially decided to postpone all joint Asian qualifying matches to the 2022 World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup Finals, which were scheduled for this March and June until further notice, knowing that the national team was scheduled to meet both Malaysia and Indonesia on 26 And the 31st of January, within the Group Seven matches in the joint qualifiers, while it was also scheduled to meet both Thailand and Vietnam next June in the last two rounds in these qualifiers.
The Asian Football Confederation addressed all member national federations about the decision taken due to the current health conditions, which make it difficult to travel between countries and travel to them, which hinders the smooth hosting and organization of matches.
The national team has played four matches so far, winning two games against Malaysia and Indonesia, and losing to Thailand and Vietnam, with a score of six points.
The Asian Confederation said in an official statement issued yesterday, in this regard, that it opened the way for member national federations to organize their matches on time after agreement between the two parties and address the Asian and international federations for approval, provided that all safety and health safety measures are provided to all parties.
The continental union set March 13 this deadline to submit a request to hold matches this month, provided that the request contains a written agreement between the two federations concerned to agree to play matches, and the date of the third of May to deliver the same request in relation to the June matches.
The AFC will follow up on the current health situation and inform member associations of any immediate developments, or any amendment to the announced decision, stressing the priority of public health.
On the other hand, Emirates Today learned that the Football Association will discuss new developments related to postponing the team’s matches in the World Cup qualifiers with the technical staff of the team led by Serbian coach Jovanovic, to come up with a clear vision in this regard and lay out a roadmap to prepare the team for future benefits in light of recent developments, along with Discussing matters related to the coach's contract, which was scheduled to end as an initial stage, according to a previous agreement with him next June, that is, for a period of six months starting from last January, after which his work with the team will be evaluated.
It is noteworthy that Jovanovic, who was contracted by the Football Association last December to succeed former Dutch coach Marwijk, has not yet played for any official match, and he led him in an internal gathering only in Dubai last January that lasted for three days.
- The national team played 4 games in the playoffs, winning two and losing twice.
6
Points earned white in the World Cup qualifiers and Asia.