Zurich, October 15,2026: The 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia could be postponed by a year to 2028 if necessary, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has said, as security concerns grow following a series of Houthi attacks on the kingdom.
However, Sheikh Salman said the AFC was in no hurry to decide the fate of Asia’s premier football tournament, adding that the situation in the region was being closely monitored.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on January 7, 2027, with matches to be held in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar.
“We can wait until the end of November,” Sheikh Salman told reporters in Zurich on Wednesday when asked about the tournament’s future.
“Things can change very quickly for better or worse in the region, and it is a question of seeing what happens,” he said.
“If we need to make a decision, then we will, but we could move back a year to 2028 if we need to. But at the moment, we are monitoring the situation and everything is on schedule,” he added.
Saudi Arabia has faced a series of attacks amid an escalation in hostilities involving the Houthi group. The security situation has already affected sporting events in the kingdom.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr had their Asian Champions League match delayed by an hour on Monday after the Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired towards Riyadh.
Three Saudi domestic football matches, including one involving Al Nassr, were postponed this week. The exhibition Six Kings Slam tennis tournament, which was due to feature Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, was also rescheduled for late December.
Australia, one of the 24 teams set to compete in the Asian Cup, said this week it was closely monitoring the situation in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the Korea Professional Footballers Association (KPFA) expressed serious concerns on Thursday about the safety of players participating in the tournament.
“The ongoing military tensions and security instability in the Middle East are issues that cannot be taken lightly,” KPFA President Lee Keun-ho said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
Lee added that “no tournament’s value can take precedence over the lives and safety of players and football fans”.
The AFC has not announced any change to the tournament schedule, with a decision expected after further monitoring of developments in the region.
