AFC cancels 2020 U-16, U-19 Championships due to Covid-19
Jan 25, 2021
Kaula Lumpur [Malaysia], January 25 : Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has cancelled the 2020 edition of the AFC U-16 and the U-19 Championships which were scheduled to be held in Bahrain and Uzbekistan respectively.
"In line with FIFA's decision to cancel the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups in 2021 and taking into consideration the safety and health of Asia's youth players, the AFC has reluctantly decided to cancel the AFC U-16 Championship Bahrain 2020 and the AFC U-19 Championship Uzbekistan 2020," AFC said in a statement.
The next editions of both competitions will be allocated to the same hosts in 2023 when the Uzbekistan Football Association will host the AFC U-20 Asian Cup and Bahrain Football Association will stage the AFC U-17 Asian Cup.
The AFC has also decided to cancel the AFC Futsal Championship Kuwait 2020 and the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup Thailand 2021. Both the Kuwait Football Association and the Football Association of Thailand will host the next editions. Kuwait will stage the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2022 and Thailand, the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup 2023.
Dato' Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary, said: "We are grateful for the support of the hosts for these competitions who agreed with the AFC the need to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders during this time of uncertainty and taking into consideration the risks of the current pandemic."
The AFC has also decided to reschedule the qualifying rounds for the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup 2022 and AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup 2022.
