AFC Futsal Championship delayed, Vietnam sticks to training schedule

By Hoang Nguyen   February 4, 2020 | 10:16 pm PT
AFC Futsal Championship delayed, Vietnam sticks to training schedule
Vietnam national futsal team (in red) celebrate the victory against Japan in the quarterfinals of AFC Futsal Championship on February 17, 2016. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa.
The novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak has indefinitely delayed the AFC Futsal Championship 2020, but Vietnam’s preparations will happen as scheduled.

The Asian Football Confederation announced that decision to indefinitely postpone the regional futsal tournament was taken for the safety of the participating teams.

It said it will announce the new date once the virus is controlled.

The deadly pneumonia virus has spread to at least 24 other countries from China, killing 492 and infecting more than 24,500.

The 2020 AFC Futsal Championship was originally scheduled to be held from February 26 to March 8 in Turkmenistan.

To prepare for the competition, the Vietnam national futsal team had planned to train in Spain from February 9 to 20. After the tournament's postponement was announced, assistant coach Huynh Tan Quoc confirmed that the team will not change their training plan.

After training in Spain, the team will return to Vietnam and continue to practice until the AFC announces the new date, he said.

The AFC Futsal Championship this year is important to the participants because the top five teams of the event will be qualified for FIFA Futsal World Cup 2020 which will take place in Lithuania this September.

The draw has put Vietnam in a relatively easy group with the host Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Oman. They were supposed to play the opener with Tajikistan on February 26 and Oman two days later.

 
 
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