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The story
AFC President Salman said the Asian Cup, set to kick off in Saudi Arabia next January, “could potentially be postponed to 2028,” citing escalating attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on the neighboring country. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s tournament organizing committee stated it is “preparing for the January kickoff as planned,” revealing a clear gap in stance between the two sides. On 5ch, discussion ranged across several angles — from suggestions that Japan or Australia could host instead, to speculation over whether a postponement would affect the future of national team coach Hajime Moriyasu.
[Rotterdam, Netherlands — Keita Kudo] With attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia escalating, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Salman said the Asian Cup, due to open in Saudi Arabia next January, “could potentially be postponed to 2028.” Reuters reported the remarks on the 14th.
Salman added that “there’s no need to rush a decision,” while also noting that “the situation in this region can change in an instant, so we need to keep watching how things develop.” Saudi Arabia’s organizing committee, however, issued a statement on the 15th stressing that “preparations for the tournament are proceeding as planned toward a January kickoff [next year].”
Source: yomiuri.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
The venues are already free anyway
There's no way that's happening on such short notice lol
Did you not see what a disaster the Asian Games were?
Even though that was just the U23 tournament, the stands were completely empty
We'd be embarrassing ourselves on the world stage all over again
There's already a last match lined up
If the Asian Cup gets cancelled, this becomes his last match lol
[Soccer] Confirmed: Japan national team match on Dec 30 at Panasonic Stadium (Osaka)! If the Asian Cup is postponed, this becomes coach Moriyasu's final match
https://hayabusa9.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/mnewsplus/1792056231/
The JFA and Dentsu (Japan's ad megacorp) could get it ready in a year, no problem
Goodbye, Moriyasu
Does Australia even still have the right to withdraw at this point?
I thought they put down some kind of deposit, and if they do anything that goes against the AFC they could be forcibly kicked out?
No need to insist on Saudi Arabia
The AFL and NRL (Australia's top football and rugby leagues) are mid-season, so there's no stadium availability
If Japan shifts the schedule a little, they could host it, right?
Might be tough for Oiwa (the U-23 coach) to handle both.
Safety comes first
Sucks for Poichi (nickname for Moriyasu) though
Because they're hosting the World Cup in '34
Apparently there's actually a movement to do just that.
Like the Euros, all the continental tournaments would be held in the years in between.
That'll speed up Moriyasu's exit too
Though obviously war is bad
But if it's held in June/July, it pretty much has to be Australia
The AFL and NRL are mid-season, so there's no stadium availability
Because the AFC president would be the one blamed if something happened
If it's confined to Saudi Arabia, the royal family can control the media (´・ω・`)
But if they can't do it, Saudi forces should go strike the Houthis in Yemen
Even with US military backing
No way, that'd turn into a drawn-out ground war
If it were that easy to just go in and strike another country, they'd already be doing it
An airport in Saudi Arabia just got attacked recently — what happens if a Japan national team player gets killed?
Background and key points of this discussion
The Asian Cup, scheduled for Saudi Arabia next January, was originally set for winter to avoid the summer heat — and now a new safety concern has emerged on top of that: escalating attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group on the neighboring country. There’s a clear gap between the AFC president’s and Saudi organizing committee’s statements: the president has raised the possibility of a postponement while taking a cautious “no need to rush” stance, whereas the organizing committee has emphasized that preparations are proceeding as planned. Where thread opinions diverged was over how to handle an alternate host — Japan and Australia were both floated, but posters pointed out real-world constraints for each, like scheduling conflicts and stadium availability. One thing readers might easily misread is that this postponement debate is directly tied to coach Hajime Moriyasu’s future; in fact, the Moriyasu-related reactions in the thread are a separate, pre-existing debate over his performance and possible resignation that simply resurfaced because of this news.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “[Soccer] Asian Cup, set to open in Saudi Arabia in January, “could be postponed to 2028″… AFC president cites escalating damage from Houthi attacks.”
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