The AFC decided to consider the UAE club Al Wahda withdrawing from the tournament, after failing to travel to the Qatari capital, Doha, to play the remaining matches in Group A.
The AFC said in a statement on its website that the Subcommittee on Corona Virus in the AFC Champions League for the Western Region decided that the circumstances surrounding the club’s failure to arrive meet the description of “compulsive circumstances”, and that the matches played by Al-Wehda in the tournament will be considered null, and in order to avoid any Doubts, it was decided not to count any points or goals from the previous matches the team played when determining the final group ranking.
According to the medical protocol for holding matches during the Covid-19 pandemic, Al-Wahda Club had to arrive in Doha four days before playing the first match, but on September 9, the club informed the AFC of its inability to travel after discovering positive cases with the Corona virus. .
The Al Wahda club was placed under quarantine by the authorities in the UAE, as Al Wahda Club and the UAE Football Association submitted a request to postpone the matches, but as a result of the completion of preparations and the arrival of other teams, it was not possible to achieve this.
Article 4.1 of the special instructions for AFC competitions during the COVID-19 pandemic period states: “In the event that the participating team or club is unable to travel to the host country or / and the stadium of the match due to travel restrictions or any other restrictions related to the Covid-19 virus. , The participating team / the participating club is considered withdrawing from the tournament. “
The article adds: “The participating team / the participating club and its national association are subject to the provisions governed by the tournament instructions, as stipulated in them.”
The sub-committee expressed its solidarity with the situation in Al-Wehda club, and expressed its agreement on the grounds that the stone and travel restrictions imposed on Al-Wehda Club led to the development of “compulsive circumstances” according to Article 6.4 and Article 71 of the AFC competitions instructions.
