In the late night of May 31, the Syrian Football Association (SFA) officially issued a statement in response to the change of venue for the World Qualifying Asian 40 tournament. The statement mentioned that the AFC has a back-up plan in deciding the remaining Group A matches to be held in our country, i.e., an alternative host country can be found to replace our country at any given moment. At the same time, the statement strongly opposed any kind of adjustments to the remaining fixtures in the group, especially those changes that might benefit the Syrian team.
On the Syrian Football Federation's official social media page, they stated that they have been met with skepticism from a number of sources in a short period of time. The motives behind these criticisms varied, but were not the focus of the discussion. Firstly, they support the tournament system adopted by the AFC and FIFA, as none of their remaining tournaments are home matches, and therefore they believe it is feasible to hold matches in any country. In addition, the tournament system avoids the inconvenience of having to travel to multiple locations.
In a subsequent statement, the Syrian Football Federation emphasized that they were strongly opposed to the rescheduling of the remaining Group A matches, especially if the rescheduling could be to the advantage of the Syrian team. They also pointed out that the AFC had issued several statements regarding the entry barriers set up by the Chinese side, and that the AFC therefore had the provision to replace our country as host country at any time.
In addition, the President of the Syrian Football Federation, Alghayeb, said that he is ready for an in-depth communication with the President of the AFC, Ben Ibrahim, in order to discuss the relevant issues. They emphasized that this action was carried out with the continuous communication and strong support of the Syrian Olympic Committee, and expressed their gratitude to the Syrian Consulate in Dubai for its great efforts and strong support to reach the desired goal.
