J. League to play through international windows during virus-shortened season
The J. League first division will play through international windows sanctioned by FIFA when it restarts following a roughly four-month break brought about by the coronavirus crisis, J. League Chairman Mitsuru Murai said Tuesday. While the J1 normally pauses to accommodate clubs with national team ...
AFC intends to push ahead with continental competitions despite pandemic
Asia's top soccer competitions will go ahead this year despite the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said, although games may have to be played behind closed doors. Windsor John, general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said he was confident that the Asian Champions ...
Upcoming Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be postponed as a safety measure in response to the coronavirus crisis, FIFA said Monday. Soccer's world governing body said it had reached an agreement with the Asian Football Confederation to push back the ...
The Asian Champions League pushed back the start of its East zone knock-out rounds on Monday after the competition was severely disrupted by the spread of COVID-19. Extra dates for group games were scheduled for May and June, shunting the round of 16, which usually ...
Iran on Sunday accused Asian soccer's governing body of bias for a proposed ban on it hosting club matches, after a spate of security incidents including the downing of an airliner. "It appears that the decision of your Competitions Committee was influenced by foreign media ...
Iran's soccer federation objects Asian Champions League hosting ban
Iran's soccer federation said Friday it has been banned from hosting international matches inside the country. The "federation received a letter today from the Asian Football Confederation... announcing the decision to hold AFC Champions League matches hosted by Iranian teams in neutral countries," said a ...
Saki Kumagai, Asako Takakura win AFC honors; Qatar's Akram Afif top male player
Qatar forward Akram Afif and Japanese World Cup heroine Saki Kumagai were named Asia's men's and women's players of the year at an awards ceremony in Hong Kong on Monday. Afif, who made a record 10 assists in Qatar's shock run to the Asian Cup ...
Japan Football Association President Kozo Tashima was re-elected to the FIFA Council on Saturday by the Asian Football Confederation. Tashima was one of the seven candidates up for election by the AFC Congress for five of its six seats on the FIFA council. The 61-year-old Tashima ...
Mohammed Khalfan Al-Romaithi, a candidate for the Asian Football Confederation presidency, said Monday he supports an expanded 48-team field for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Speaking to Kyodo News in Tokyo, Al-Romaithi of the United Arab Emirates said that if he wins the April ...
Former Japan captain Makoto Hasebe was named Asian International Player of the Year on Wednesday at the Asian Football Confederation Annual Awards in Muscat. Hasebe, currently with German first-division side Eintracht Frankfurt, skippered the only Asian team to reach the knockout stage this year in ...
Japan Football Association President Kozo Tashima on Wednesday threw his support behind Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa's bid for re-election as Asian Football Confederation president. Tashima praised Sheikh Salman's success in developing Asian soccer "both on and off the pitch" and for promoting commercial ...
Asian Football Confederation names Reds' Takafumi Hori coach of the year
Urawa Reds manager Takafumi Hori was named coach of the year by the Asian Football Confederation on Wednesday, while Nadeshiko Japan boss Asako Takakura won the women's award. Hori, who took over from Serbian boss Mihailo Petrovic in July, led the Reds to their second ...
