The 2021 AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup was originally to be the 10th edition (3rd official edition) of the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup (previously the AFC Beach Soccer Championship before rebranding from 2021),[1] the premier beach soccer tournament contested by Asian men's national teams, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
| ฟุตบอลชายหาดเอเชียนคัพ 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Thailand |
| Dates | Cancelled |
| Teams | 16 (expected) (from 1 confederation) |
← 2019 2023 → | |
The tournament would originally take place in Thailand.[2][3] It was originally scheduled to be played between 18–28 March 2021. On 10 November 2020, the AFC approved the proposal to move the tournament to between 28 April to 8 May 2021 to allow teams more time to prepare for the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] However, the tournament was eventually cancelled, with the official announcement made by the AFC on 25 January 2021, and Thailand would instead host the next edition in 2023.[5][6]
A total of 16 teams were originally expected to participate.[7] Japan were the defending champions.
Qualified teams for FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
editThe tournament would also have acted as the qualification tournament for Asian teams to the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia; the top three teams would have qualified.[citation needed]
On 21 April 2021, the AFC announced that they agreed to utilize a point system which ranks the performances of the continent’s top eight teams in the last three editions of the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup (2015, 2017, 2019). Based on the ranking of the point system, Japan, Oman and United Arab Emirates were nominated as the AFC representatives at the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.[8]
| Team | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup1 only FIFA era (since 2005) |
|---|---|---|
 Japan[8] |
21 April 2021 | 10 (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019) |
 Oman[8] |
21 April 2021 | 3 (2011, 2015, 2019) |
 United Arab Emirates[8] |
21 April 2021 | 6 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2019) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
References
edit- ^ "AFC rebrands age group championships to AFC Asian Cups". AFC. 2 October 2020.
- ^ Abou Diab, Rami (24 June 2020). "The Lebanese Beach Soccer National Team prepare for the 2021 AFC Asian Championship in Thailand". FA Lebanon. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "VFF - AFC postpones AFC Women's Futsal Championship 2020 and AFC U-20 Futsal Championship 2021". VFF. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ "AFC Futsal and Beach Soccer Committee approves new competition dates". AFC. 10 November 2020.
- ^ ""الآسيوي" يبلغ الاتحاد اللبناني بمواعيد بطولاته الجديدة" (in Arabic). Lebanese Football Association. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- ^ "Latest update on AFC Competitions in 2021". AFC. 25 January 2021.
- ^ "AFC Beach Soccer Championship 2021 Competition Regulations". AFC. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Latest update on AFC representatives for upcoming FIFA competitions". AFC. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
External links
edit- AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup, the-AFC.com