FAM make sensible decision not to host WC-Asia Cup qualifiers
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia are not planning to host the World Cup 2022Asia Cup 2023 Qualifiers in June.
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Seri Hamidin Mohd Amin said they have decided against it due to the Covid-19 procedures in the country and the cost involved.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have decided to hold the remaining Group G fixtures in a carnival format in one of the participating countries and have opened the bidding process to Malaysia, the
We can’t have teams from overseas here. I will leave the bidding to the other countries.
Datuk Seri Hamidin Mohd Amin
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.
“We can’t have teams from overseas here. I will leave the bidding to the other countries,” said Hamidin.
“UAE look good for the job as almost all their people have been vaccinated and they have proper procedures in place.”
Malaysia were scheduled to meet the UAE in Dubai on March 25 and Vietnam in Kuala Lumpur on March 30 but now, they will face all the second-round opponents in June.
Vietnam are leading the group with 11 points after five matches, followed by Harimau Malaya (nine), Thailand (eight), UAE (six) and Indonesia (zero).
As for vaccination of the players, Hamidin said: “We are hopeful that our players will be vaccinated after the frontliners. By doing so, we hope it will instil some confidence in the team and allow them to do their jobs without any fear.”