China to play ROK in June in Olympic women's football qualifier

Players of China's women's football team celebrate after scoring a goal in the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament game against Australia at Campbelltown Sports Stadium in Leumeah, Australia, February 13, 2020. /VCG

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday announced that the Olympic women's football qualifying tournament playoffs between China and South Korea will be postponed to June.

The first leg is now due to take place on June 4 in South Korea and the second-leg on June 9 in China. Venues and kick-off times have not yet been announced.

Originally the playoffs were supposed to take place in early March but the outbreak of COVID-19 in both countries forced a delay to the schedule.

China's women's football team pose for a photo ahead of the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament game against Australia at Campbelltown Sports Stadium, February 13, 2020. /VCG

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) will need to submit a domestic stadium and a backup third-party stadium to the AFC as the team's home field. Considering that China has been seeing zero virus transmissions outside Hubei Province for two straight days, there's a good chance that the team will be able to play the tie at home.

The other benefit for China of playing in June is that several of the team's key players will be able to return. During the Olympic qualifying tournament games in February, China lacked Wang Shuang, Yao Wei, Lyu Yueyun and Li Mengwen who were quarantined because of the virus outbreak. If they rejoin the squad, China's advantage over South Korea will be even greater.

Logo of the AFC Champions League. /VCG

The Olympic women's football qualifiers were not the only event delayed as a result of COVID-19 in Asia. Also on Monday, the AFC announced that the third-round group games in the Western Region of the AFC Champions League will be postponed. The football associations said that participating teams were asked to work together to make a new schedule so the rest of the group games will be finished before the knockout stage.

The quarterfinals were also moved to September (14-16, 28-30) while the dates of the finals remain unchanged on November 22 and 28.

China's men's national football team train in south China's Guangdong Province, January 20, 2020. /VCG

Furthermore, the remaining four rounds of the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in Asia were also delayed from the original late March to October and November.

Following the delay, the CFA decided to extend the training campaign of its men's national team in Dubai from March 20 to 25. During the campaign, the national team will play multiple warm-up games with the CSL teams that are also training in Dubai, including Chongqing SWM and Guangzhou R&F.