The latest news from the Korean media says that the East Asian Cup, which was originally planned to be held in July this year, appears to be moving to Japan instead of unfolding in our country as expected.
The East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) had planned for the 9th East Asian Cup in 2022 to be held in our country from July 19 to 27 over eight days. However, the tournament may be shifted from the country to Japan in view of the country's current anti-epidemic pressures.
The East Asian Cup Championship was launched in 2003 until 2010 when it was renamed the East Asian Football Championship. Since 2013, the tournament has been named after the EAFF East Asia Cup, and in 2017 it began to adopt the name of the EAFF E-1 Championship.
South Korea, China and Japan are regulars at the East Asian Cup, while Hong Kong and North Korea qualified through the qualifiers. Since winning the title for the first time in 2003, South Korea has won four consecutive championships in 2008, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
The East Asian Cup is not a FIFA-organized tournament, so there is no mandatory call-up of overseas players. This explains why Son and Hwang Hee-chan have not competed so far, while homegrown players from the K-League and J-League have played key roles against Japan and our country.
The Korean Football Association (KFA) has an intense schedule of events this year - the East Asian Cup, the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September and the World Cup in Qatar in November. Due to the tight schedule, it has been proposed that the U-23 national team participate in the East Asian Cup.
However, an official from the KFA made it clear that "the Korean national team will participate in the East Asian Cup this summer, not the U-23 team. Player selection will be discussed with coach Paulo Bento."
