The ASEAN Football Federation has announced the postponement of the AFF Suzuki Cup due to COVID-19.
The tournament was set to take place between November 31 and December 31 this year but will now be moved to 2021 instead.
The AFF Suzuki Cup is held every two years and is played between the south east Asian countries.
The cup was scheduled to be contested by Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. The latter are the defending champions, while Thailand are five-time winners of the tournament.
The last edition of the cup did not have a host nation, with teams alternating between playing home matches in their own country and away games in other nations.
“Since the onset of COVID-19, the AFF has been closely monitoring guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO), Health Ministries, government agencies, FIFA and AFC,” Major General Khiev Sameth said, the AFF President.
“As you are aware, this pandemic continues to pose enormous health, societal and economic challenges to us all. AFF’s top priority continues to be the health and safety of our football family and mitigating the impact of this pandemic. With the risk of the spread of COVID-19 remaining high, the AFF finds itself in a situation where we cannot proceed safely with the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020.
“While these are unprecedented times for the whole world including our football family and communities, we are confident that we will get through it together with the support of all our stakeholders including our fans, Member Associations, players, coaches, official, media and partners and we would like to thank them for standing united with us in the fight against COVID-19.”
The AFF said that it will be monitoring the situation and will release information on the 2021 running of the event as soon as possible.
“Sportfive supports the decision by the AFF to postpone the AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 to ensure the safety and well-being of all players, partners, staff and fans. While we are disappointed that we are unable to hold the tournament this year, we will work closely with the AFF to monitor the situation and look forward to working with our partners to deliver a great tournament for the fans of ASEAN next year.” Adrian Staiti said – President of Suzuki Cup partner Sportfive.
Australia is an ASEAN country, however it is not a member nation of the AFF.
