FIFA, AFC to postpone football activities due to coronavirus

Geneva, March 5 (IANS) Due to the spread of COVID-19, FIFA will discuss with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) about adjusting the calendar of upcoming football activities in Asia, the world football governing body confirmed in a statement on Thursday."For both FIFA and the AFC, the well-being and health of all individuals involved in football matches remains the highest priority, and as such, a formal proposal to postpone upcoming matches in the Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers will now be shared with the relevant member associations," FIFA said, according to Xinhua news.According to FIFA, an update on these fixtures will be made in the coming days following consultation with the AFC member associations.In addition, other topics of discussion were the women's Olympic play-off between South Korea and China, as well as the AFC Futsal Championship Turkmenistan 2020.FIFA said they would continue to monitor the situation in relation to COVID-19 in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), the confederations and the member associations.
--IANS rkm/bg