Chennai City, the 2018–19 I-League champions, will play their remaining AFC Cup group stage matches in the Maldives, with hosting rights granted following the decision of the continental body to host the games in one place.
Outbreak coverage of coronavirus | Football news
The decision of the Asian Football Confederation, inspired by the growing COVID-19 case count in many countries, was announced by Maldives Sports Minister Ahmed Mahloff.
Mahloff said, “Congratulations @MaldivesFA is being honored to host centralized @AFCCup Group E matches. In this important phase of reopening our borders, we can show that Maldives is a safe destination through it . Expenses will be covered by FFC and FAM due to inflation. ” Tweeted.
The Football Association of Maldives (FAM) was the only national federation to have expressed interest in hosting Group E games which would also include local sides Majia, TC Sports and Bashundhara Kings of Bangladesh.
The Asian Football Confederation had decided to resume the remaining matches of the AFC Cup, the continent’s second-tier club competition, in centralized locations across five regions from October in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Chennai City, which last played on 14 March, will resume their campaign when they face TC Sports on 23 October.
The matches will be played at the Ramsi-Dhandu National Stadium in Male. Chennai City have drawn a 2–2 draw against Mazia in their first group match so far and still have five matches left.
AFC’s continental competitions were postponed in March due to coronavirus outbreaks.
The Confederation of Asian Football has previously stated that all matches in the planned group stage will be played in full, while the knock-out round will include a single match tie (instead of home and away), as will the final of the competition.
“Despite the challenging times, I am delighted that we are seeing more encouraging progress on the return of several domestic leagues on the field and with them there is an expectation that we can conclude both the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup in the coming months. ” “‘Dato'” was said by AFC General Secretary Windsor John.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário