UAE to resume World Cup qualifying campaign in October

Mohamed Abdullah Hazam Al Dhaheri, secretary general of the UAEFA. -- Supplied photo

The UAE will resume their World Cup qualifying campaign in October, while the AFC are mulling three options to complete the backlog of AFC Champions League fixtures, the UAE Football Association (UAEFA) announced on Wednesday.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held a meeting with member associations via video conference on Wednesday.
Mohamed Abdullah Hazam Al Dhaheri, secretary general of the UAEFA, who participated in the meeting, said that the AFC, after coordinating with Fifa, decided to complete the joint qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in October and November.
Matches will be played on October 8 and 13 with the next leg on November 12 and 17, according to a statement issued by the UAEFA.
The UAE, who are currently fourth in Group G, were at a crucial juncture in the joint qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. Their home fixture against Malaysia in Dubai on March 26, away game against Indonesia on March 31, as well as home matches against Thailand on June 4 and Vietnam on June 9 were postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Three proposals were put forward for the remaining 99 matches across the East Zone and West Zone in the AFC Champions League. Options include playing the matches in September, October or November so as to complete them before the Fifa Club World Cup in December.
Following comments by the representatives in the meetings, the AFC will present the format and the dates of the club competitions for the final review, after which the proposal will be submitted to the AFC Competitions Committee for their approval.
It was also decided to hold the Asian Futsal Clubs Championship in Dubai from December 2 to 13.
james@khaleejtimes.com