ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) has announced that AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 will be held from April 11 to May 8 2021, which is expected to cause conflict in Malaysian football calendar.
The largest and most prestigious football tournament in South East Asia was supposed to be held from November to December this year, but AFF decided to postpone to 2021, upon advice from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) due to the fear of COVID-19 pandemic.
AFF Suzuki Cup Task Force Committee said the new dates is based on consultation with the region’s football federations and other relevant authorities and believes that the timeline will work the best to accommodate the domestic football schedules.
They also aim to host Suzuki Cup in its full format, played on a home and away basis across South-East Asian nations who have qualified for the competition, but will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure the safety and well-being of all players, coaches, partners, fans and the public.
AFF President Major General Khiev Sameth also hopes the announcement of new date would provide some clarity in planning for its commercial partners, including sponsors and media broadcasters, at a time of uncertainty.
“While we are well aware that the fight against the global pandemic is not over, we are cautiously optimistic for the tournament to take place in its full format as we hope to deliver the best of ASEAN in the tournament next year.
“AFF and our member associations would like to express gratitude to all our fans, players, coaches, officials, media and other partners for their unwavering support and commitment despite these challenging times, and look forward to the AFF Suzuki Cup unifying the whole of South East Asia when we are able to come together again,” he said.
However, the new dates will cause rift between national team commitment and club football.
Most Southeast Asian leagues including Liga Malaysia begin in January and AFF Suzuki Cup will be mostly likely disrupt domestic leagues in the middle of the season.
Some of the matches for group stage and knockout stage of the Asian football club tournament, AFC Champions League are also likely to be played from April to May 2021 too.
In addition, AFF Suzuki Cup will also be held during the Ramadan month, which begin from April 12 to May 11.
It will be difficult task for Malaysia national team head coach, Tan Cheng Hoe, who have not assembled the team since December last year due to COVID-19 pandemic.
It could also jeopardize Malaysia’s chances of winning the AFF Suzuki Cup, after last won the tournament back in 2010.