August 8, the football world came heavy news: September 2, the World Preliminary Round Asian Zone 12 will be officially opened, the Chinese team's first match will be on the road to challenge the "kangaroo" Australia. In view of the current epidemic prevention policy, Australia may move the home to the West Asia region, the national football team need to save for a rainy day, well prepared.
In the group in which the national soccer team is based, Japan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam have all announced their home schedules for the September tournament. The only ones yet to be announced are China and Australia. In the first round of matches, these two teams will meet each other, but the "home" side of Australia, but faced with the difficulties of the quarantine policy. 6 August, the Australian Football Association sent a letter to the AFC, claiming that due to the epidemic prevention policy, can not be hosted in their country on September 1, the first round of matches. It is reported that Australia's entry quarantine policy requires 14 days, which conflicts with the 48-hour quarantine limit of FIFA and AFC.
The AFL had previously negotiated with the government to ease quarantine restrictions for the men's soccer team and its opponents for the Sept. 2 home game in Sydney. The AFL said that if they could play at home, they would take "closed-loop" measures to ensure the health of the participants and that the match could be played on an empty pitch. However, it seems that their efforts have not received a positive response. Australia has no choice but to consider hosting the match at a third-party venue. According to AFC insiders, their reported candidate is Doha, Qatar.
For the Chinese team, officials such as Chen Xuyuan, chairman of the Football Association, have stated that they will do their best to defend their home ground. However, in the case of severe epidemic prevention and policy restrictions, the Chinese team may also consider Doha and other West Asian regions as a third-party home field. This move will help to reduce the travel effort and facilitate the preparation for the game.
