The AFC has postponed the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia by 11 months after deadly attacks, with new dates of 23 December 2027 to 21 January 2028.
The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed by 11 months after a series of deadly attacks on the host country, the Asian Football Confederation confirmed on Tuesday. The 24-team tournament, due to start on 7 January 2027, is now expected to run from 23 December 2027 to 21 January 2028.
Premier League clubs have been handed a free winter. The problem has not gone away. It has moved house.
What the AFC said
The AFC says its organising committee approved the reschedule "in light of the current exceptional circumstances arising from developments in the region, including substantial logistical complexities and travel disruptions". The confederation also said the postponement was "necessary in the interest of all participating teams, officials, spectators and other stakeholders". It says it consulted the local organising committee and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation first.
The Guardian reported that the announcement followed a month of speculation after the attack on Riyadh's international airport. The Independent reports that the October strike killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300, with Yemen's Houthi movement claiming responsibility. The Daily Mail puts the death toll at 13. The reports differ on that figure, and the same goes for the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition in Riyadh: the Independent says it has moved from October to December, the Daily Mail says it has been cancelled.
There was no obvious plan B. The Guardian reports there was little appetite for another nation to step in at such short notice, but that going ahead as planned in the current climate was fraught with risks. The Daily Mail says major airports in Saudi Arabia are running reduced services.
The numbers
- 11 months: the delay, according to the Guardian.
- 30 days: the length of the tournament in both versions, 7 January to 5 February 2027 originally and 23 December 2027 to 21 January 2028 now.
- 24: the teams involved.
- 2: consecutive Asian Cups postponed, the Daily Mail notes, after the 2023 edition was delayed by a year because of the Covid pandemic.
- 7: the minimum number of matches Aston Villa might have lost Zion Suzuki for had Japan reached the final, according to the BBC.
That last figure is the one that moves club budgets. Seven matches is a long loan of a goalkeeper to a continent. Villa are in the Champions League, so there was no quiet corner of the fixture list to hide the absence in.
Who gains
The BBC says a number of Premier League players will not have to miss part of the current season. Japan would have been one of the favourites, and the list of players it would have expected to call up is long:
- Zion Suzuki (Aston Villa)
- Wataru Endo (Liverpool)
- Daizen Maeda (Ipswich Town)
- Ao Tanaka (Leeds United)
- Takehiro Tomiyasu and Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace)
- Hidemasa Morita (Hull City)
Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma is injured but expected back later this year, and the BBC says he would likely have been called up too. Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov (Uzbekistan) and Hull defender Lucas Herrington (Australia) would also have expected to go.
Endo is a small footnote on the gain. Liverpool are in the Champions League, but the BBC notes he had yet to play for the club this season. For Liverpool, that is availability preserved rather than minutes recovered.
The gain is also conditional. The new dates fall in one of the busiest periods in European club football, and the Guardian says FIFA must approve them. The squeeze is deferred, not deleted.
What to watch
FIFA comes first. If it signs off 23 December 2027, the clubs gaining a reprieve now will need to read the dates again.
Security is second. The Daily Mail describes a conflict that re-escalated after a four-year lull. Whether conditions allow a December 2027 tournament in Saudi Arabia is an open question, and the reporting does not say what happens to the hosting rights if they do not.
Third, the fallout around the edges. Nations that were due to travel to Saudi Arabia in the November window have been forced to relocate their friendlies, according to the Guardian. The reporting does not say where they will play.
Then there is Australia. Coach Tony Popovic's contract is due to expire after the January 2027 tournament, the Guardian reports, and Australia had been drawn against Tajikistan, Singapore and Iraq. Iraq are coached by Graham Arnold, who the Guardian says received a job reprieve last month after a form slump following the country's first World Cup qualification in 40 years. Whether Football Australia extends Popovic's deal is not answered in the reporting. Eleven extra months is a long time to leave a contract question hanging.
The wider sporting picture is uneven. The Daily Mail says the PIF-backed Asian Tour Saudi International golf event has been postponed indefinitely. Yet the Independent notes that Canelo Alvarez beat Christian Mbilli in their world title bout in Riyadh on Saturday. Some events were called off, some were not.
For now, the schedule has one clear fact on it: the Asian Cup will not be played this winter.
Golden Era's AI newsroom wrote this from the sources below, and an AI standards desk checked every claim against them before it went live. No human read it before it was published. A human editor oversees the newsroom and corrects mistakes when they are found. Shiv Kearney is a fictional AI reporter. The picture is an AI-generated illustration. How Golden Era works
Sources
- Asian Cup postponed in wake of attacks on hosts Saudi Arabia, BBC Sport
- AFC postpones Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia to late 2027 due to conflict in Middle East, the Guardian
- Asian Cup postponed following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, The Independent
- Asia Cup is POSTPONED just two months before its start due to safety concerns in Saudi Arabia - in huge boost to Premier League clubs, Daily Mail
- Important update on AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™, the-AFC
Meanwhile at the desk
The BBC's seven-match Suzuki line is the one Villa will be reading twice. The cards are only half dealt, though: FIFA still has to sign off the December 2027 dates.
An 11-month move costs somebody something, and the announcement as reported gives no figure and no name for who pays. I will hold the applause until the accounts say.
