Notice of Race Adjustment
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) issued an emergency notice at noon today, pointing out that the Maldives and Syria have recently broken out of the new crown epidemic, and according to China's regulations on the prevention and control of the epidemic in China, the two teams' eligibility to participate in the competition is restricted, and they will not be able to participate in the competition on time. In compliance with the AFC's proposal, the CFA has decided that the remaining seven matches originally scheduled for Group A will be moved to the United Arab Emirates.
On the eve of the match between China and Guam, the Maldives team captain was diagnosed with the new coronavirus, and the news of the delayed departure of the chartered flights of the two teams, Maldives and Syria, cast a shadow over the next matches of the Chinese team. Those in the know are looking forward to a quick resolution of the problem, as the Chinese team has the best chance of advancing to the 40-team tournament if they play at home, and everyone is anxious for the outcome of the match.
Since the early hours of the morning, there has been a steady stream of negative news until the morning, confirming that the remaining matches will be held off-site. The CFA held a briefing in the afternoon, Foreign Affairs Minister Luo Zhao revealed: "Syria's entire team of 49 people, of which 11 people (4 players, 7 officials) did not get the green code, two people have a history of the new crown disease; two people two serum antibody test positive; 7 people a serum antibody positive. The Maldives had a team of 34 players; one person was found positive in the first round of nucleic acid testing, one person was found suspected positive in the second round of testing, and two people were quarantined. One person tested positive for serum antibodies in the first round and six in the second round. Due to the positive nucleic acid test, the entire team could not come to China as close contacts."
The Chinese team continues to train in Suzhou this afternoon and the team has been informed of the situation. From an objective point of view, it is inevitable that the tournament will be affected by the change from home to away. What the team can do is to positively adjust their mentality and prepare for the subsequent away matches. It is reported that the Chinese team will depart from Shanghai to Dubai on the evening of the 2nd, and the CFA will send a large team of epidemic prevention and logistical services to travel with the team, and the entire delegation may amount to about 70 people.
Ma and Syria teams are training in Dubai, originally planned to enter the country from Shanghai on May 30th, China and Malaysia will meet on June 3rd, China and Philippines will fight on June 9th, and China and Syria will compete on June 15th. As the remaining matches in Group A were moved to Dubai, these two teams thus gained the advantage of rest, while the Chinese team had to overcome the difficulties of jet lag, climate, venues as well as food and drink due to unforeseen circumstances. According to the analysis of the arrival time of the Chinese team in Dubai, the China-Malaysia match will be postponed, while the China-Philippines battle will be played on the 9th, with six days of adjustment between the 3rd and 9th.
