The Vietnamese team and captain Nguyen Van Quyet (right photo) celebrates their second AFF Cup victory in 2018. Vietnam will defend their title in November. (Photo: thethaovanhoa.vn)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamare likely to defend the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup later this yearafter the regional football governing body has announced the tournament will goahead.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic,the AFF biennial tournament is still scheduled to take place between November23 and December 31.
There were fears the eventwould be postponed as many worldwide sporting tournaments including the TokyoOlympics have to be rescheduled due to novel coronavirus.
However, the AFF said on March25 that the AFF Cup would continue its plans to start in November.
“These are unprecedented timesfor the whole world, including our football family and communities, but we willget through it together,” AFF President Khiev Sameth was quoted as saying onthe website aseanfootball.org.
"However, getting throughthis will require all of us to play our part.
“Since the risks oftransmission of the disease at mass gatherings such as football events arehigh, we have made a considered decision to delay and whenever necessary tocancel our competitions to minimise social contact with the objective toprotect the safety and health of our football family and communities.”
The AFF will monitor thepandemic and may change their decision if necessary.
Sameth added: “As the situationis constantly evolving, we will keep a close watch and will not hesitate tomake changes to our schedule if necessary. In every decision we make, AFF willalways prioritise the well-being of our football family and communities.”
In 2018, Vietnam won theirsecond AFF Cup trophy after beating Malaysia 3-2 on aggregate in the two-legfinal.
Other AFF tournaments are alsoscheduled to go ahead.
They are the AFF U15 Girls’Championship in Indonesia in September, the AFF Futsal Championship, AFF FutsalClub Championship and AFF Beach Football Championship, all in Thailand, laterthis year.
Four events that will bepostponed to later dates this year are the AFF Women’s Championship in thePhilippines in May, the AFF U18 Women’s Championship, AFF U16 Boys’Championship and AFF U19 Boys’ Championship, originally scheduled in Indonesiain June, July and August, respectively.
Meanwhile, the first ever ASEANClub Championships which is due to be held from May-November this year has nowbeen rescheduled to 2021./.
VNA
