April 26 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has given itself a week’s breathing space in the calendar for its AFC Cup ASEAN Zone group stages, its club competition focussed on emerging clubs.
The ASEAN group has 10 participating teams playing in three groups and is an important component in the balance of the competition.
The new match schedule was needed to take into account the AFC Champions League (East) Playoff matches, which are now planned for June 22, 2021 and, depending on the outcome of the Preliminary Stage matches, may include the participation of teams from the ASEAN Zone.
The extra week could also prove crucial in enabling participation given the challenges faced being faced across the region to get teams into competition in the wake of public health orders and political unrest in some countries.
The AFC has repeatedly emphasised its commitment to getting all its competition back up and running. The AFC Cup was a casualty of the covid pandemic in 2020.
Originally scheduled to be held from June 22 – 28, the matches in Group H will now be played from June 29 to July 5, with Group I matches now scheduled for June 30 to July 6, 2021.
Groups H and I scheduled to take place in Singapore while the venue for the remaining Group G will be decided at a later date.
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