Article source: Sports Weekly
According to the news from the East Asian Football Federation, the 9th East Asian Cup, originally scheduled to be held in China this year, will most likely be held in Japan. At the same time, the Chinese Hong Kong team, as the team with the highest FIFA ranking among the members of the East Asian Union, will participate in the finals of this East Asia Cup, and the qualifiers will no longer be held.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of the 72nd FIFA Congress in Doha earlier this month, the East Asian Football Federation held the 64th and 65th Executive Committee Meetings and the 10th East Asian Football Federation General Assembly in Doha. Modifications have been made, and one of the most important elements is to change the term of office of the rotating chairman from 2 years to 4 years.
The East Asian Football Federation was officially established in 2002 and is one of the five regional football leagues under the AFC. From the date of its establishment, the league has confirmed that the China, Japan and South Korea Football Associations will alternately appoint the chairman of the league, and will take office in turn in the order of Japan, South Korea, and China, for a term of two years. In the previous cycle, the chairman of the Korean Football Association, Zheng Mongkui, was the chairman. Du Zhaocai, who is in charge of foreign affairs of the Chinese Football Association, will serve as the rotating chairman for a term of four years.
During the Doha meeting, in addition to revising the EAF constitution, another important topic was the East Asian Cup. In view of the current epidemic situation, the East Asia Alliance decided to no longer conduct qualifying matches and play-offs, but to determine the fourth team except China, Japan and South Korea based on the latest rankings of countries and regions announced by FIFA on March 31. According to the latest rankings, the North Korean team ranks 109th in the world and 20th in Asia, the highest-ranked team except China, Japan and South Korea. However, since North Korea has made it clear that it will not send a team to the competition, the Hong Kong team, currently ranked 147th in the world and 26th in Asia, will participate in this year’s East Asia Cup finals.
This East Asian Cup was originally scheduled to be held in China, but in view of the current domestic epidemic situation, it is temporarily difficult for the Chinese Football Association to host it. Therefore, according to the corresponding regulations, Japan, which was supposed to host the next event, will take over this event.
The tournament is scheduled to take place from July 19th to 27th this year. The South Korean team has won three consecutive championships in the men’s football competition, and the Korean Football Association has finalized that it will send the South Korean national second team, mainly composed of domestic players, to play in this competition, with the goal of winning the fourth consecutive championship. The Japanese Football Association has finalized the Paris Olympic men’s football team composed of players in the 2001 age group.Return to Sohu, see more
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