Republic withdraws as host of two AFC Cup groups

Singapore has withdrawn as host of two AFC Cup groups of Asean teams owing to the "erratic" Covid-19 situation in the region, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced yesterday.

The continent's second-tier club competition was set to see visiting teams from Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines join Singapore Premier League sides Lion City Sailors and Geylang International in the June 29 to July 6 event.

But with Singapore entering phase two (heightened alert) due to the recent spike in coronavirus cases and implementing restrictions such as a 21-day quarantine for visitors from most countries, the staging of the 12 matches has become untenable.

With more than 1.7 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and 49,000 deaths, Indonesia is the worst-hit country in South-east Asia. Malaysia recorded a high of 7,857 cases yesterday, with a total of more than 500,000 cases and a death toll of over 2,300 since the pandemic started. The Philippines has seen more than one million infections and nearly 20,000 deaths.

The FAS said it "has been working with all parties to provide a safe environment for all participants of the tournament".

"However, the erratic Covid-19 situation regionally has made the inbound travel challenging for the overseas participating teams," it added. "In the interest of all the players, the officials and the local community, the FAS has decided not to host the AFC Cup 2021 group-stage matches."

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said further details regarding the two groups will be communicated in due course. It is understood that the games will be postponed, possibly to October.

In Group H, the Sailors were set to play Kedah, Saigon and Persipura Jayapura at the National Stadium, while in Group I, Geylang were to play Terengganu, Kaya-Iloilo and another qualifier at the Jalan Besar Stadium. There are a total of 10 groups in the competition.

Singapore's decision not to host the AFC Cup group games follows a spate of cancellations and postponements of high-profile events involving international arrivals.

In sport, mixed martial arts outfit One Championship's Empower event that was scheduled for today has been put on ice. The June 1 to 6 Singapore Badminton Open, which was set to be the sport's final qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics, was cancelled for the second consecutive year.

Non-sporting events scrubbed from the Republic's calendar include the World Economic Forum's special annual meeting slated for August and the Shangri-La Dialogue, which was scheduled to take place from June 4 to 5.

Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases specialist from the Rophi Clinic, noted that it was a prudent move: "All countries in this region that are in the competition are struggling with the pandemic. It would be socially irresponsible to continue as planned as there would be a risk of cross-border transmission and spreading of the virus."

Although the Singapore teams will now have to play their AFC Cup group games away, Sailors chief executive Chew Chun-Liang said the club remain confident that the team will be able to progress to the knock-out stages.

Geylang's spokesman shared the same sentiments.

Elsewhere, the five AFC Cup groups based in the West Asia zone have already begun competition in Bahrain, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from May 14.