AFC U-23 qualifiers begin today without Pakistan

KARACHI: The 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Championship Qualifiers, which are also called the first stage of the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will begin at different countries from Friday (today) with Pakistan not featuring in the event.

Pakistan had been clubbed in Group F with defending champions and hosts Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and India but it withdrew its entry due to football conflict which will be discussed at the meeting of the FIFA Member Associations Committee on April 3.

This is indeed a huge miss by Pakistan who had prepared very hard for few months until a new Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) was formed as a result of the Supreme Court-ordered elections in December last year. FIFA-recognised PFF then handed over the control of the federation to the new body as per the apex court’s instructions. The issue is that FIFA and AFC don’t recognise the new body being headed by Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah. FIFA still recognises Faisal Saleh Hayat as the PFF president. The qualifiers will see 43 teams jostling for 15 spots to next January’s Finals, which will also serve as the qualifying round for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

With Japan having confirmed their Olympic berth by virtue of being the hosts, three spots will be up for grabs in the AFC Under-23 Championship Thailand 2020. The Qualifiers’ draw last November threw up some mouth-watering groups, with the teams divided into two zones of WEST (West + South + Central) with 23 sides, and EAST (East + ASEAN) with 20 teams. The 11 group winners and four best second-placed teams will qualify for the Finals, with host Thailand receiving automatic qualification. In the event if Thailand finish among the qualified teams to the Finals (either top of the group or one of the four best second-placed teams), the next (fifth) second-placed team in the ranking among all groups will qualify instead.