On August 18, Vietnam urgently announced that the match scheduled for September 7, when Vietnam hosts Australia in the second round of the Qatar World Preliminary Round Asian Zone 12, will have to be played without spectators due to the impact of the global epidemic. The decision was made on August 16 after an emergency meeting between relevant Vietnamese government departments and the Vietnam Football Association.
At a special meeting on August 16, relevant departments of the Vietnamese government and the Vietnam Football Association had an in-depth discussion on the arrangements for the Vietnamese team's home stadium in the World Qualifier. In view of the current epidemic situation, the Vietnamese government explicitly asked the Vietnam Football Association to make every effort to ensure that the epidemic prevention work for the tournament is in place.
The Vietnamese government asked the Vietnam Football Association (VFA) to submit a comprehensive and detailed "bubble closed-loop" epidemic prevention plan to the National Epidemic Prevention and Control Committee (NEPCC) and other relevant authorities 15 days before the match (August 23rd). At the same time, it was decided that in order to cope with possible outbreaks of epidemics or other unforeseen circumstances, no tickets would be sold for the September 7 match and fans would be barred from entering the stadium.
Both of Vietnam's matches in October are away from home. There is no word on whether the Nov. 11 home match against Japan and the Nov. 16 home match against Saudi Arabia will be open to fans.
Empty stadiums for the matches will undoubtedly be a big financial loss for the Vietnam Football Association. According to the rules, the business rights, TV broadcasting rights and other rights of the 12 matches all belong to the AFC, while the participating associations only have the right to sell tickets. Empty stadiums mean zero ticket revenue.
In fact, Vietnam may not be the only team to face empty stadiums at home during the entire period of the 12-team tournament. For example, China's home match against Japan on September 7, if approved to be played in Doha, Qatar, may also be played under empty conditions; China's "away" match against Australia on September 2, due to the high probability of being held in Doha, may also face an empty stadium.
Of the three teams in the group, Japan is likely to open up about 50 percent of its live seating for its Sept. 2 first-round match at home against Oman, according to local government regulations.
The Saudi sports authorities, with the support of their government, have decided to open the new season of the Saudi League to spectators, stipulating that the rate of spectators entering the stadium can be up to 60%. However, the rules require that fans who enter the stadium to watch the game must have been vaccinated and must apply to watch the game through a cell phone app. For Saudi Arabia's home matches in the Round of 12, the Saudi sports department also requires a maximum of 60 percent of the audience to enter the stadium. As for whether the Omani home games are open to fans, the Oman Football Association is currently communicating with its own government departments.
