Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia could be postponed but ‘no hurry’ to decide: AFC

ZURICH – The Asian Cup scheduled for January in Saudi Arabia could be moved back a year to 2028 “if we need to”, the continent’s top football official said, following a series of Houthi attacks on the country.

But Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa also said they were in “no hurry” to make a decision over Asia’s premier football tournament.

The 2027 Asian Cup is supposed to kick off on Jan 7 in the Saudi cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and Al Khobar.

The kingdom has in recent days come under sustained attack in a dramatic escalation in the war with the Iran-backed Houthi group.

“We can wait until the end of November,” the AFC president told reporters in Zurich on Oct 14 about a decision on the fate of the Asian Cup.

“Things can change very quickly for better or worse in the region and it is a question of seeing what happens,” he added.

“If we need to make a decision then we will, but we could move back a year to 2028 if we need to.

“But at the moment we are monitoring the situation and everything is on schedule.”

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr saw their Asian Champions League match delayed by an hour on Oct 12 after the Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired towards Riyadh.

Three matches in Saudi domestic football, including one involving Al Nassr, were this week postponed.

The exhibition Six Kings Slam tennis tournament, due to include Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, was pushed back to the end of December.

Australia, one of the 24 teams set to play at the Asian Cup, said this week it was “closely monitoring” the situation in Saudi Arabia.

The organisation representing South Korean players on Oct 15 said there was “serious concern regarding the safety of all players participating in the Asian Cup”.

“The ongoing military tensions and security instability in the Middle East are issues that cannot be taken lightly,” said Lee Keun-ho, president of the Korea Professional Footballers Association, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Lee added that “no tournament’s value can take precedence over the lives and safety of players and football fans”. AFP