The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed because of a series of deadly attacks on the host country.
The 24-team tournament was scheduled to take place from 7 January to 5 February but has been rescheduled to run from 23 December, 2027 to 21 January, 2028.
In October, a missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi movement on Riyadh’s airport killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
A statement from the the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), external said the decision to reschedule had been taken “in light of the current exceptional circumstances arising from developments in the region, including substantial logistical complexities and travel disruptions”.
It added: “The new dates of the tournament will be presented to Fifa for approval.”
The Saudi Pro League has postponed this week’s round of fixtures following the rescheduling of the Asian Cup.
It says the rescheduling creates “additional flexibility” in the calendar to allow for a “more balanced distribution of fixtures” across the rest of the season.
A number of events in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled recently, including the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition event, which was scheduled to be in Riyadh.
The Asian Tour has also indefinitely postponed it’s season-ending golf tournament, which was scheduled to take place from 18-21 November.
This is the second successive Asian Cup to be postponed after the 2023 tournament was moved to 2024 and to Qatar from China because of the Covid pandemic.
The decision to postpone the 2027 Asian Cup means a number of Premier League players will not have to miss part of the current season.
Some of the players that would have been expected to be called up were Japan’s Zion Suzuki of Aston Villa, Wataru Endo, who plays for Liverpool, and Daizen Maeda of Ipswich Town.
Leeds United’s Ao Tanaka, Crystal Palace duo Takehiro Tomiyasu and Daichi Kamada, and Hull City’s Hidemasa Morita also play for Japan.
Japan would have been one of the favourites for the tournament and Villa, who are in the Champions League, might have had to do without Suzuki for at least seven games if his country had reached the final.
Liverpool are also in the Champions League but Endo has yet to play for the Reds this season.
Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma is currently injured but is expected to be back later this year and is also likely to have been called up by Japan.
Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov, of Uzbekistan, and Hull City and Australia defender Lucas Herrington would also have expected international call-ups for the Asian Cup.
