Virus floors 12 ACL matches

PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) home match against Guangzhou Evergrande of China is among 12 Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) matches that have been postponed, no thanks to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 12 ties, stretching over three match days – Feb 11-12, Feb 18-19 and March 3-4 – were postponed following an urgent AFC meeting in response to the outbreak, which has now been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The meeting, attended by six-member associations taking part in the competition, also decided that the match between Thailand’s Chiangrai United and Beijing FC would go ahead as scheduled on Feb 18 because the Beijing side are currently in camp in South Korea and do not need quarantine measures.

Chiangrai have stressed that they will continue to work closely with the Thai Government and medical officials to monitor the situation.

The AFC will continue to closely evaluate the impact of the outbreak, but for now, the matches involving clubs from China will be re-scheduled to April and May 2020.

JDT’s second Group G match against Evergrande in Johor Baru has been tentatively moved to May 20 from Feb 19.

The representatives agreed that a deadline to assess the latest situation will be set 21 days before each match.

If it is decided the game cannot go ahead as proposed, the host club will have to nominate a neutral venue at least 14 days before match day.

On Jan 29, the original match schedule was changed so that all Chinese clubs could play away in the first three match days.

However, some governments, including Australia, have introduced restrictions which have made it impossible for Chinese clubs to travel to these countries.

AFC secretary-general Datuk Windsor Paul said the decision was made to ensure the well-being of all involved in the competition.

“We came together in difficult circumstances to find solutions to allow us to play football while ensuring we protect the safety and security of all players, officials, stakeholders, and fans, ” he said in a statement.

“We also accept that this coronavirus is a much bigger issue than football.”