Dates of Asian Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup Approved
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The dates for the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 were approved by the AFC Competitions Committee at their third meeting for the 2019-2023 cycle.
It was agreed that all the Asian Qualifiers Round 2 matches should be completed by June 15, 2021 with Match Day 7 and 8 in March 2021 and Match Day 9 and 10 in June 2021 with the Final Round of the Asian Qualifiers beginning in September 2021.
It was agreed, in collaboration with FIFA, that the 10 match days of the Asian Qualifiers Final Round should be finished by the end of March 2022 with the Asian and Inter-Continental Play-offs proposed for the FIFA Window May/June in 2022. The Asian Play-off for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is proposed as a single match.
The AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2022 bidding process was also agreed. The tournament was originally scheduled for China PR in 2022 as a preparatory competition ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 but the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has now informed the AFC they are no longer able to stage the tournament.
Now the Committee has agreed that the hosting process for the 2022 and 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup editions will be reopened to Member Associations in the West with the intention of the 2026 tournament again providing preparation for the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.
It is intended that all future AFC U-23 Asian Cups in non-Olympic years will be hosted by the Member Association staging the subsequent AFC Asian Cup while the competition dates for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup 2022 will be further discussed.
The Committee also agreed that the previously postponed AFC U-19 Championship will be staged in Uzbekistan between March 3 to 20, 2021 and they also accepted changes to the eligibility rules for the AFC U-16 Championship Bahrain to allow players born on or after January 1, 2004 to play in the tournament. The dates for the AFC U-16 Championship, also postponed from 2020, are to be further discussed.