September 24 – Defending champions Al Hilal have been booted out of the Asian Champions League for naming only 11 players for their final group game with Shabab Al Ahli Dubai after a massive Covid-19 outbreak struck at the heart of the playing staff.
By Paul Nicholson
September 17 – A row in Iran over broadcast rights and the piracy of the current round of Asian Champions League matches has escalated to complaints of political interference – from the Iranian government – and now looks likely to seriously impact the country’s chances of winning the bid to host the 2027 Asian Cup.
September 11 – The AFC Cup, Asia’s second-tier club competition, has been cancelled for 2020. The AFC Solidarity Cup and the AFC Futsal Club Championship will also not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
August 27 – World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar have become the first to submit their full bid documentation to host the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.
August 25 – The AFC has postponed the draw ceremony for the AFC Cup 2020 knockout stage that was scheduled to take place this Thursday.
August 24 – The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) is expanding the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, bringing it in from the Quarter-final stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League.
August 17 – Goa will be the central venue for the 2020 Indian Super League, organisers have announced.
By Paul Nicholson
August 12 – Renewed fears over the danger of spread of the Coronavirus in Asia have forced the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to push back qualifying rounds for the Qatar 2022 World Cup and Asian Cup China 2023 into next year.
By Paul Nicholson
August 4 – A long running dispute between the UAE and Qatar that began in January 2019 at the Asian Cup over the eligibility two Qatari players, has finally been settled at CAS with the UAE losing its appeal against the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) decision that the players were eligible.
August 3 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has issued another life time ban on a Laos national team player for match fixing.
July 30 – The Saudi Pro League (SPL) will resume with the first of the final eight rounds of fixtures kicking off next Wednesday with the Riyadh derby between Al Hilal and Al Nassr.
July 24 – In a move to increase protection of its commercial rights, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has formed an Independent Working Group that will advise the AFC’s commercial and legal departments.
July 21 – Controversial Nepal president and AFC vice president’s Ganesh Thapa, who was banned for 10 years for bribery by FIFA, has come under fire from the Nepal Sports Journalists Forum for abusing a reporter.
July 15 – Indian football plans to stage the coming season’s Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League at a single venue in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
By Paul Nicholson
July 13 – The United Arab Emirates Football Association (UAE FA) has taken a prominent, and welcomed, role in reinforcing Asian unity and opening channels of communication with the completion of a ‘virtual retreat’ this weekend.