On May 31, China's Football Association (AFA) released the news through official channels that due to the recent epidemic infections in the Syrian and Maldivian teams, the teams' eligibility to participate in the tournament was restricted according to the regulations on the prevention and control of inbound epidemics and the teams were unable to participate in the tournament on time. The AFC suggested, and our Football Association agreed, that the remaining matches in Group A of the Qatar World Preliminary 40, including the remaining three matches of our team, originally scheduled to be held in Suzhou, would be transferred to Dubai, UAE.
This decision resulted in our team, which was originally playing at home, having to play in a different location. This not only adversely affected the preparation and competition of the national football team, but also caused problems in the scheduling of the Chinese Super League and other domestic matches after the 40-team tournament.
Change of venue
National football team to leave for Dubai on 2nd
According to a Beijing Youth Daily reporter, on the morning of May 31, the national football team has begun to collect the passports of the international players and related personnel in the team. Our team is expected to take a chartered flight from Shanghai to Dubai on June 2nd or 3rd. At present, the highest daytime temperature in Dubai has exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, a change that has undoubtedly had a significant impact on the national football team's preparations and matches.
On the evening of May 30th, after our men's soccer team beat Guam 7-0, the Syrian Football Association announced through official channels that the team had postponed coming to China for some reasons, and the news spread rapidly on the Internet. Although the specific reason is yet to be confirmed by the official, but in view of the seriousness of the incident, China's Football Association immediately with the national team and other related departments to communicate urgently, until the daytime of the 31st, finally confirmed that the game moved to Dubai to host.
For the time being, the change is irreversible. Our team started to prepare for the out-of-country match from May 31. 31 morning, the team notified the international players and the personnel of the preparation and operation team to submit their passports. If the passport is not around, it is also necessary to send the passport through friends and relatives to the team's premises in the epidemic-proof red zone of the Suzhou tournament.
quarantine guarantee
The delegation will be accompanied by more than 70 persons
Compared with the game itself, the health and safety of the whole team is more important. It is reported that, in order to help the national team to do a good job in all emergency work, China's Football Association has confirmed the organization of a large epidemic prevention and logistical services to protect the team with the visit, and to ensure that all the personnel of the team travel safety.
It has been revealed that the coaching staff of our team has decided to call up Changchun Yatai's Tan Long into the team after Fernando will not be able to take part in the remaining matches of the 40-team tournament due to injury. According to the plan, our team delegation will depart from Shanghai on June 2 at the earliest and fly to Dubai. Together with the coaches, epidemic prevention staff, logistics and medical team members, the delegation will have more than 70 people traveling to Dubai.
For the national football team, in addition to traveling health and safety issues worthy of attention, "away" game climate conditions are also worthy of special attention. Weather forecasts show that outdoor temperatures in Dubai have recently reached over 40 degrees Celsius during the day, which is not suitable for outdoor activities. In contrast, the Syrian team and the Maldives team are better at training and playing in hot climatic conditions, our team needs to be prepared for the psychological preparation of the "bitter battle".
Although the accident to the national football preparations to bring the impact, but in order to go all out to fight for the line, the team is still according to the plan to train. 31 May at 4:00 p.m., the whole team will still go to the quarantine of the red zone of the field for closed training. For the national football team and its manager Li Tie at this moment, to be able to really do "not be shocked by the change" is of great practical significance.
reach
Top 12 draw: group draw ceremony to be held in late June
On the evening of May 31, the AFC came to the news that the Qatar World Cup Asian Zone 12 group draw ceremony will be held on the afternoon of June 24 at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This means that the remaining matches in Group A of the 40-team tournament, where our team is located, must be completed before the draw ceremony for the 12-team tournament, even though they have been temporarily transferred to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The information shows that the teams participating in the 12-team tournament will be divided into six brackets based on the latest FIFA Men's National Team (Nationwide) rankings, and the 12 teams will then be drawn evenly into two large groups, each including one team from each bracket. The top two teams in each group will qualify directly for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while the third-placed team will qualify through a replay, where it will compete with the other continental play-off teams for a place in the final phase of the tournament.
Refund of Suzhou race tickets: no handling fee, refundable before June 30th
After the Qatar World Qualifier Asian Zone Top 40 Group A remaining matches were confirmed to be held in a different location, China's Football Association communicated with the relevant departments of the Suzhou Municipal Government on the aftermath of the incident and announced a ticket refund plan on the evening of May 31st.
China's Football Association (CFA) said that since the World Qualifying Tournament matches will be transferred to Dubai, UAE, in order to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the spectators who purchased the tickets, China's CFA will provide a fee-free refund service for the spectators who purchased the tickets for the remaining three matches (including packages of tickets).
China Football Association confirmed the scope of ticket refund, that is, through the barley network purchased 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar & 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China joint qualifying phase 2 "June 3 China vs Maldives / June 9 China vs Philippines / June 15 China vs Syria match tickets (including packages)" ticket buyers Audience.
