MANILA – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) – governing body of association football in Asia and Australia – decided to halt its scheduled matches for the months of May and June this year due to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Among the matches affected by the suspension are the AFC Cup 2020 group stage matches of Philippines Football League teams Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo and Ceres-Negros F.C., along with the international fixtures of the Philippine Azkals.
The Ilonggo football club was supposed to host a clash against Singapore’s Tampines Rovers FC on May 12 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium here, while the Negrense team was originally set to battle Vietnam’s Than Quang Ninh in an away match at the Cẩm Phả Stadium there.
Ceres-Negros’ two wins and a draw record in the tournament makes the team lead Group G with seven points. Kaya, on the other hand, stands second in Group H with five points via a win and two draws.
Meanwhile, the Azkals’ postponed fixtures are the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 / AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 ones scheduled in June.
The Philippine men’s national football team, ranked No. 124 in the whole world as of February 2020, was set to face China (No. 76) there on June 4 and Maldives (No. 155) at home on June 9.
AFC, which earlier postponed matches scheduled for March and April 2020, will continue to coordinate and consult with its member associations on all possible options for the continuation of all competitions in due course.
The Azkals have so far played five matches in the international joint qualification tournament. Here are the results:
*Philippines 2-5 Syria (Sept. 5, 2019)
*Philippines 4-1 Guam (Sept. 10, 2019)
*Philippines 0-0 China (Oct. 15, 2019)
*Philippines 2-1 Maldives (Nov. 14, 2019)
*Philippines 0-1 Syria (Nov. 19, 2019)
The country is currently in third place of Group A with two wins, a draw and two losses – seven
points in total./PN
