Kuala Lumpur: The dates for the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023, were approved by the AFC Competitions Committee at their third meeting for the 2019-2023 cycle, which was held online and chaired by Dr. Tran Quoc Tuan.

It was agreed that all the Asian Qualifiers Round 2 matches should be completed by June 15, 2021 with Match Day 7 and 8 in March 2021 and Match Day 9 and 10 in June 2021 with the Final Round of the Asian Qualifiers beginning in September 2021.

FIFA Matchdays in March 2021 is from 22nd to 30th March, while the June window starts from 30th May to 8th June.

Team Melli has 4 matches left, away to Cambodia and home to the other 3 teams. It is currently in third place with 6 points behind Iraq and Bahrain.

It was agreed, in collaboration with FIFA, that the 10 matchdays of the Asian Qualifiers Final Round should be finished by the end of March 2022 with the Asian and Inter-Continental Play-offs proposed for the FIFA Window May/June in 2022. The Asian Play-off for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is proposed as a single match.

The AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 bidding process was also agreed upon. The tournament was originally scheduled for China PR in 2022 as a preparatory competition ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 but the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has now informed the AFC they are no longer able to stage the tournament.

Now the Committee has agreed that the hosting process for the 2022 and 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup editions will be reopened to Member Associations in the West with the intention of the 2026 tournament again providing preparation for the AFC Asian Cup in 2027.

It is intended that all future AFC U23 Asian Cups in non-Olympic years will be hosted by the Member Association staging the subsequent AFC Asian Cup while the competition dates for the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 will be further discussed.

The Competition Regulations for the AFC Champions League 2021 and the AFC Cup 2021 were approved. The new calendar for the AFC Cup 2021 was also approved while there would be further discussions on match dates and competition formats for the AFC Champions League 2021 with all stakeholders in the coming days.

The Committee also agreed that the previously postponed AFC U-19 Championship will be staged in Uzbekistan between March 3 to 20, 2021 and they also accepted changes to the eligibility rules for the AFC U-16 Championship Bahrain to allow players born on or after January 1, 2004 to play in the tournament. The dates for the AFC U-16 Championship, also postponed from 2020, are to be further discussed.