National Team - Lions ● Feb 19, 2021
Singapore’s Asian Qualifiers postponed from March to June
SINGAPORE, 19 FEBRUARY 2021 – As announced by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) earlier today, Singapore’s Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ for this March have been postponed.
The Lions were set to play Palestine (away) and Saudi Arabia (home) in March, with those Group D Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 fixtures having already been rescheduled twice due to the impact of COVID-19. These matches will now be played at a centralised venue from 31 May to 15 June.
The AFC took the decision to postpone the majority of March’s Asian Qualifiers due to the “existing travel and quarantine restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across the Continent” and after “close consultation with Asia’s Member Associations”. As a result, only four fixtures will be fulfilled in March – one each from Groups B and D, and two from Group F.
National Team Coach, Tatsuma Yoshida, said: “The team were looking forward to resuming competitive action in March and it is unfortunate that the fixtures have been postponed. However, we fully understand and support the decision as the health and safety of all involved is rightly the highest priority. We will shift our attention to preparing for the rescheduled matches and there are plans to hold centralised training sessions for local-based players in March as part of our efforts.”
More details on the centralised training sessions will be announced in due course.
Singapore are currently third in Group D with seven points from five games, two points behind leaders Uzbekistan and one behind second-placed Saudi Arabia, who have a game in hand.
