The AFC issued an urgent notice on July 2, requiring all member associations participating in the Qatar World Qualifying Tournament Phase 3 and the 12-team tournament to submit their respective home match arrangements by July 16, and prepare for possible emergencies brought about by the epidemic, and put forward a "third-party alternative home" response plan. However, as of today, the CFA has not submitted the relevant plans. It is reported that, according to the CFA and the Chinese team's preliminary plan, Shanghai will become the first choice for the 12 strong home field. As for the "alternative home", there is still no conclusion. CFA 12 strong match preparation and protection team is stepping up the implementation of the program.
On July 1, after the results of the draw for the Top 12 tournament were announced, the participating member associations and teams have been engaged in intense preparations for the tournament. In this, the development of home game program has become the first task, and the selection of suitable home game venue is particularly important.
Given the importance that FIFA and AFC place on the interests of sponsors, it seems a foregone conclusion that the home-and-away system will be used for the Top 12. Although the epidemic situation, laws and regulations and epidemic prevention policies vary from country to country, FIFA and AFC have strict regulations on the quarantine period for visiting team personnel. In the event of a conflict with the quarantine regulations of the participating member associations, FIFA and AFC have the right to require the member association of the home team to choose a venue in a third party's country as an alternative home venue.
The AFC asked member associations to submit home match proposals and alternative home proposals within two weeks of receiving the notice, i.e. July 16 at the latest.
In fact, since returning home from the UAE on June 17, the CFA and the Chinese team's coaches and management team have been working on preparations for the Top 12 tournament. Earlier this month, members of the association's Top 12 safeguard work team have begun inspecting alternative venues in Shanghai, targeting the city's match venues, training venues and hotels.
As of now, Shanghai is still the preferred home alternative venue for the National Football League's Top 12 matches. The reason for choosing Shanghai is that the people involved in the second round of the Chinese women's Olympic play-offs and the national soccer team's 40-team tournament all enter and exit Shanghai Pudong International Airport. If the home stadium of the 12-team tournament is located in Shanghai, the entry and exit procedures of the home and visiting delegations and AFC competition officials will be consistent with those of the Chinese women's and men's soccer teams. In addition, Shanghai has accumulated rich experience in cooperating with the Chinese women's and men's soccer matches in terms of the entry and exit of personnel, and creating a closed loop of epidemic prevention for the matches, which will help to improve the efficiency of the reception and epidemic prevention of the national soccer matches.
From the current situation, the newly built SAIC Pudong Stadium is expected to be the first candidate for the national football team's home stadium for the Top 12 matches. In addition, the Yuanshen Stadium, which has hosted Chinese Super League matches, may also become an alternative training ground for the team.
It is understood that the CFA national football 12 strong match preparation work to protect the team members recently also specifically examined some of the hotels in Shanghai, especially in the Pudong New Area. If the final Chinese team 12 strong match home in Shanghai, then the game venue and the visiting team activity area is likely to be concentrated in the Pudong New District, which is also in order to better implement the tournament epidemic prevention work.
SAIC Pudong Stadium
Compared to the local home venue candidates, the selection of third-party "alternative home" venues has become a difficult task for some of the participating member associations, including the Chinese Football Association (CFA). So far, China's group rivals, Australia, have been unable to confirm a home game in their home country. The Japan Football Association (JFA) has expressed its desire to arrange home matches in the Kansai region, but as the host of the Olympics, Japan's recent epidemic situation has brought uncertainty to the Japanese team's home arrangements.
Japan men's soccer team preparing for the 12th round of the tournament
The CFA has full confidence in the hardware conditions, management and service capabilities of the candidate venues. However, due to the repeated interlacing of home and away matches for the national football team's Top 12 matches, which involves complex immigration issues, China still implements strict epidemic prevention and quarantine measures for entry of personnel, so it is not yet known whether the team will be able to play in the country as it wishes. As for the selection of the third-party "alternative home", it is still subject to the laws, epidemic prevention regulations and conditions of the relevant member associations. Logically, if the Chinese team is unable to play their home matches in China, the third party "alternative home stadiums" may be arranged in member associations that are not part of the same group of opponents as the national football team, such as Thailand, the United Arab Emirates or Qatar.
