Azkals in limbo as AFC announces venue change for upcoming WCQ matches

Ahead of their anticipated World Cup/Asian Cup joint qualifying window, the Philippine Azkals are facing an unexpected roadblock as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) decided to move the venue of the Group A fixtures to a neutral site.

Despite the Group A proceedings kicking off last night in Suzhou, China, the AFC decided to withdraw the hosting of the centralized fixtures from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Through an official announcement released earlier today, the AFC cited difficulties being faced by other participating nations in entering the country as the main reason for the venue change.

Over the last few days, reports emerged that several players from Maldives and Syria have tested positive for COVID-19, which has hampered their preparations for the qualifiers and affected their entry to the East Asian country, which has instituted strict travel protocols.

In a separate press release, Azkals team manager Dan Palami has aired their grievance over the last-minute advice by authorities to cancel their chartered flight to Shanghai, China which was originally scheduled for today.

Two team officials have been barred from entering China due to testing positive in IgM antibody tests, linked to both being recently vaccinated. Furthermore, another pair of team officials are also barred from traveling due to a past history of contracting COVID-19 dating back to last year, despite testing negative on the latest screenings. Palami states that the delegation has completed all recent health checks, including two RT-PCR tests, prior to boarding the flight.

Despite the setback, Palami ensured that they’ll take advantage of the recent developments to explore options to strengthen the squad and get more training time while ensuring the health and safety of every individual in the team.

Meanwhile, in another press release, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has lamented over the AFC’s decision to change the venue, mentioning the financial impact it caused as they needed to cancel the Azkals delegation’s chartered flight at the last minute.

The Azkals are supposed to round up their second-round schedule on June 3 as they face Guam, followed by China on June 9 and Maldives on June 15. Changes to the venue and schedule adjustments are still being worked on by the AFC and CFA and will be announced as soon as possible.