China has backed out as the host for the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Finals due to the rising number of Covid cases in the country. The event was scheduled to be held from 16 June to 16 July 2023 across 10 cities in the country. AFC will now reschedule the 24 teams tournament elsewhere after an internal discussion.
In a statement, the AFC said, “Following extensive discussions with the Chinese Football Association, the Asian Football Confederation has been officially informed by the CFA that it would not be able to host the AFC Asian Cup 2023. AFC acknowledges the exceptional circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the relinquishment by China of its hosting rights.”
This is the second high-profile Asian sporting event that has been affected due to the troubling Coronavirus situation in China. Earlier, the Asian Games, due to be held in September 2022 in China, were postponed indefinitely. With the country not being confident of getting the Covid situation in control even by June 2023, the Asian Games are likely to be postponed by at least a year.
Coronavirus in China
China, where the Coronavirus allegedly originated, got through Covid largely unscathed through 2020 and 2021, but has been struggling to keep the numbers under control in 2022.
As part of China’s “Zero Covid policy“, authorities have been imposing strict lockdowns across the major cities in China to get the situation under control. The key city of Shanghai has been under lockdown for weeks, while the capital Beijing is also seeing strict regulations. The lockdowns have also created a food shortage even in the most prosperous parts of the country.
