At midday, the CFA issued an urgent notice that in view of the recent outbreaks of epidemics in the Maldives and Syria, and in accordance with China's regulations on the prevention and control of entry epidemics, the qualifications of these two teams have been urgently suspended and they will not be able to participate in the tournament as scheduled. At the suggestion of the AFC, the CFA made the decision to move the remaining seven Group A matches to the United Arab Emirates.
The Maldives captain's recent diagnosis of a new crown, coupled with the delay in the departure of the chartered flights of the two teams, has cast a shadow over China's upcoming matches. Everyone expects the problem to be solved quickly, after all, the home game is crucial for the Chinese team to get out of the line. Since the early hours of the morning, the bad news continued to come in, and it was not until the morning that a change in the tournament was confirmed.
The CFA held a press conference in the afternoon, and Luo Zhao, head of the Foreign Affairs Department, revealed the details: "Eleven of the 49 members of the Syrian team failed to obtain the green code of health, including four players and seven officials, two of whom have a history of new coronary disease, two people tested positive for serum antibodies twice, and seven people tested positive for a single time. For the Maldives team of 34, one tested positive for nucleic acid in the first round and one suspected positive in the second round, while one tested positive for serum antibodies in the first round and six in the second round. The entire team was barred from entering the country as close contacts due to the positive nucleic acid test."
The Chinese team continued training in Suzhou this afternoon and the players have been informed of the situation. Although the tournament has changed from a home game to an away game, the team is trying to adjust their mentality and make every effort to prepare for the subsequent away games. 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 epidemic prevention and logistical support team to accompany the team, with an expected delegation size of 70 people.
The two teams, Maldives and Syria, assembled in Dubai and were scheduled to fly in from Shanghai on May 30, play China on June 3, face the Philippines on June 9 and Syria on June 15th. Due to the relocation of the Group A tournament to Dubai, the two teams gained the advantage of waiting for their arrival, while the Chinese team had to deal with the challenges of jet lag, climate, venues as well as food and drink. Based on the analysis of the Chinese team's arrival time in Dubai, the China-Malaysia match may be postponed, while the China-Philippines match is scheduled to take place on the 9th, with six days in between for adjustments.
