April 30 – Political unrest in the country has forced the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) to pull out its two clubs – Hantharwady United FC and Shan United FC – from the 2021 AFC Cup and AFC Champions League, respectively.
The AFC Competitions Committee “noted and acknowledged the challenges as well as the present complexities caused by the state of emergency in Myanmar and decided that the situation constituted an event of force majeure.”
As a result Australia’s Melbourne City will now advance to the Playoff stage where they will face Cerezo Osaka from Japan.
The Committee also decided to cancel the AFC Cup Playoff Stage match between Hantharwady United FC who were originally scheduled to face the winner of the Preliminary Stage match between FC Chanthabouly (previously known as Lao Toyota FC) from Laos and Brunei Darussalam’s Kasuka FC.
FC Chanthabouly and Kasuka FC will instead compete for a direct slot in Group G occupying position G4, alongside Hanoi FC from Vietnam, Bali United FC from Indonesia and Cambodia’s Boeung Ket.
Covid casualty
Meanwhile, in the AFC Cup South Zone, the AFC COVID-19 Sub-Committee for AFC Champions League and AFC Cup (West) the pandemic has eventually overcome Bangladesh’s Abahani Limited Dhaka who were facing “mounting challenges” in meeting the extended deadline to host their AFC Cup Preliminary Stage match against Club Eagles from Maldives.
“Taking into careful consideration the exceptional circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the lockdown and travel restrictions in Bangladesh, the Sub-Committee decided that Abahani Limited Dhaka are considered to have withdrawn from the AFC Cup 2021 and that the situation constituted an event of force majeure,” said the AFC.
The Playoff Stage slot was awarded to Club Eagles, who will now face India’s JSW Bengaluru FC for a place in the AFC Cup Group D on May 11, 2021 in Maldives.
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