The AFC Asian Cup is still scheduled to go ahead in Saudi Arabia in January despite recent attacks on the Middle Eastern State, but the tournament could be postponed until 2028 if the regional security situation deteriorates.
The Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ has confirmed that preparations remain on schedule for the tournament, set to take place from 7 January to 5 February 2027.
They said in a statement, “Preparations across all organisational and operational areas are progressing according to the approved schedule, including work on venues, facilities and supporting services.”
The LOC said the focus remains on delivering a world-class tournament experience for participating teams, fans and media from across Asia, while bringing the continent together through football.
At the same time, it will continue to monitor developments relevant to the tournament and ensure the appropriate conditions are in place for its successful delivery.
AFC president Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa also said organisers were in “no hurry to make a decision” on whether to postpone the tournament or not.
“We can wait until the end of November. Things can change very quickly for better or worse in the region and it is question of seeing what happens,” he told reporters in Zurich where the FIFA Council is meeting.
“If we need to make a decision then we will, but we could move back a year to 2028 if we need to. But at the moment we are monitoring the situation and everything is on schedule.”
Sporting events postponed
Other sporting events have been postponed and cancelled since Yemen’s Houthi movement launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, including a missile strike on Riyadh’s airport that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
The Six Kings Slam tennis tournament was recently postponed for a month to December.
The FIFAe Finals have also been postponed. The event was scheduled to take place in Jeddah from October 16–25, but no new dates have been confirmed.
In football, the Saudi Pro League fixture between Al-Riyadh and Al-Hilal, along with Al-Ittihad against Al-Shabab in Jeddah, has also been pushed back until December.
Al-Nassr’s trip to Al-Ahli, also based in Jeddah, has been moved to March.
Host venues
When the tournament kicks off, Aramco Stadium will be the only venue outside of Saudi Arabia’s two major urban centers, Riyadh and Jeddah, to host fixtures.
Five stadia in Riyadh, including the King Fahd Sports City Stadium (set to be expanded to 70,200 seats) and two in Jeddah (including the 62,345-capacity King Abdullah Sports City Stadium) make up the remainder of the host venues.
The 2027 AFC Asian Cup will be the 19th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Men’s football championship of Asia organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament will involve 24 national teams after the expansion in 2019.
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia.
The Asian Cup has generally been dominated by a small number of top teams. Prominently successful teams include Japan (four times), Iran, Saudi Arabia (three times each), South Korea and Qatar (twice each).
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