*This content was translated by AI.
In the aftermath of the U.S.-Israel airstrike on Iran, some of the club competitions organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have also been postponed indefinitely.
AFC announced on the 4th (Korea Standard Time) that it will postpone all games scheduled in West Asia from the 9th to the 11th, including the 2025-2026 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE). The move comes as military tensions spread throughout the Middle East.
The games postponed by this announcement are West Asian matches in the second round of ACLE 16 and West Asian teams in the second round of AFC Champions League (ACL2) and AFC Challenge League quarterfinals.
AFC previously postponed the first round of the ACLE round of 16 in West Asia, so all the first and second rounds of the ACLE round of 16 in the region were postponed. AFC only said about the future schedule of the game, "We will postpone it until further notice."
Instead, games involving teams from outside of West Asia, such as South Korea and Japan, will be held as scheduled.
The problem is that as some games in West Asia have been postponed, there is a greater possibility that follow-up schedules will be postponed one after another or the venue will be changed.
In the case of ACLE, from the quarterfinals tournament, it will gather in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from April 16 to 25, regardless of the East and West Asia region, and proceed to the finals at once. However, depending on the timing of the resumption of the first and second round of the round of 16 in West Asia, all the schedules after the quarterfinals tournament may be postponed, or the venue itself may have to be urgently found in a non-West Asia region.
AFC said, "AFC's top priority is the safety and security of all stakeholders, including players, teams, officials, partners and fans," adding, "We have a firm commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone. We will further update (on the schedule, etc.) in due course," he said.
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*This content was translated by AI.
