AFC Futsal & Beach Soccer Committee Approves New Dates

The Committee agreed to the proposal to move the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup Thailand 2021 from March 18 to 28 to April 28 to May 8 to allow Asia’s top 16 teams more time to prepare for the tournament, which also serves as the qualifiers for the Continent’s top three sides to represent Asia in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Russia 2021 in August.

In a year where the AFC placed the health and safety of players, teams, match officials and all stakeholders as the main priority, the Committee also agreed to implement the Special Rules Applicable to AFC Futsal Competitions during the COVID-19 pandemic for upcoming Futsal and Beach Soccer competitions.

Following the successful completion of the 2020 AFC Champions League (West), which was the first AFC Competition to adopt the special rules, the Committee noted the importance of modelling the delivery of future futsal and beach soccer competitions on the highest health standards and safety measures put in place in Qatar for Asia’s premier club competition.

The Committee agreed that measures such as regular temperature checks, movement restrictions and regular testing while ensuring the most stringent compliance protocol in place was necessary to safeguard and protect the health and wellbeing of all stakeholders involved, the-afc.com reported.

Furthermore, the Committee also approved the members for the AFC COVID-19 Sub-Committee for the AFC Futsal Championship 2020, which is now scheduled to be staged in Kuwait from March 23 to April 3, 2021.