China won’t host 2023 Asian Cup over Covid fears
>>BEIJING: China has withdrawn as the 2023 Asian Cup host due to the coronavirus, football officials said yesterday, with Beijing’s strict zero-Covid strategy dealing another blow to the country’s sporting ambitions.
Authorities in China are pursuing a strategy of stamping out the virus entirely, which includes rapid lockdowns and mass testing, and millions in Shanghai have faced onerous restrictions for over a month.
But the measures — now rare globally, as most countries shift to living with Covid — have made hosting sporting events a major challenge.
The Olympic-sized Asian Games, due to be staged in September in Hangzhou, had already been postponed earlier this month, and yesterday the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said China would not host the Asian Cup.
Chinese football officials had informed the AFC that they would not be able to host the 24-team competition, which was to be staged in 10 cities in June and July next year.
No new host nation was named. However, it is business as usual for countries seeking places at the tournament finals, including Thailand.
The Football Association of Thailand yesterday summoned the first set of 19 players to start training for their three warm-up games ahead of next month’s qualifying tournament in Uzbekistan.
The War Elephants are scheduled to play Bahrain on May 24 and 31, and Turkmenistan on May 27 before participating in the qualifying tournament in Uzbekistan.
The governing body said in a statement yesterday: “The AFC acknowledges the exceptional circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the relinquishment by [China] of its hosting rights.”
Those involved in organising the tournament had made “this very difficult but necessary decision in the collective interests of the” event, it added.
The Asian Cup is staged every four years. Qatar won the last edition in 2019. It would have been the second time that China had staged the Asian Cup. They hosted it in 2004.