January 10 – With the Asian Cup Qatar 2023 simply two days away from kick off, AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has expressed confidence that the occasion is able to go off and not using a hitch, regardless of the brief time span left to organise the AFC’s blue riband occasion after China pulled out from internet hosting.
Salman (image left) additionally drew consideration to quite a few firsts for the event that he mentioned would be the “grandest ever AFC Asian Cup to this point.”
“We’re all conscious that that is the shortest ever runway that we’ve got needed to organise the top stage of Asian males’s soccer. However in one other exceptional show of Asian soccer unity, we’ve got proven the world that we’re able to stage an distinctive event,” mentioned Salman.
In 2019 the UAE hosted the primary 24-team expanded Asian Cup, an occasion that marked a step change within the AFC’s large occasion organisation.
“We at the moment are in touching distance of internet hosting our best-ever males’s showpiece in Asian soccer historical past,” mentioned Salman.
“I’m assured that we are going to witness inspiring performances that can showcase the immeasurable progress of Asian soccer.”
The Asian Cup kicks off Friday on the Lusail Stadium, the place Argentina had been topped World Champions simply over a 12 months in the past. Hosts Qatar will open the event towards Lebanon as they start their defence of the Asian Cup title they received within the UAE.
The event completes February 10 on the Lusail Stadium. The 51 video games shall be performed throughout 9 stadia, seven of them used for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
For the primary time the AFC will use Semi-automated Offisde Know-how (SAOT) and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) programs throughout all matches. The AFC has additionally appointed ladies’s match officers to the event for the primary time.
From February 1-5 the AFC will run the AFC eAsian Cup between the tip of the final 16 knockout spherical and thru the quarter finals.
“I’m delighted to declare that the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ will really be a event of ‘firsts’,” mentioned Salman.
“These enhancements additional underline the AFC’s need to boost our flagship competitions with every passing version and produce to life our Imaginative and prescient of offering a world-class stage for our gamers, groups and officers.”
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