Abandonment of the 2023
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
As soon as the news came out, the Chinese team instantly lost their seeding for the next Asian Cup.
On May 14, 2023, the AFC made an official announcement that the Asian Cup, which was scheduled to be held in China from June to July, would be moved to another country. After lengthy discussions with AFC, the country officially relinquished its hosting rights.
With the epidemic raging and only a year left before the scheduled games, it had to be announced that the Asian Cup would be rescheduled, and this is not an isolated case, as the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Chengdu Universiade have also long been announced to be postponed.
Despite not being able to go on to host the Asian Cup, China retained their place in the tournament as they managed to qualify for the Asian Round of 12 of the World Qualifiers.
As of now, 13 teams have locked in their spots for the 2023 Asian Cup, including the 12 nations that participated in the Round of 12 and Qatar, which emerged from the Round of 40. The remaining 11 countries will compete for the remaining spots through the Asian Cup qualifiers in June.
