Asian Cup postponed in wake of attacks on Saudi Arabia

ByMandeep Sanghera BBC Sport journalist.

Key points

• Leeds United's Ao Tanaka, Crystal Palace duo Takehiro Tomiyasu and Daichi Kamada, and Hull City's Hidemasa Morita additionally play for Japan.
• This is the second successive Asian Cup to be postponed after the 2023 tournament was moved to 2024 and to Qatar from China since of the Covid pandemic.
• Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov, of Uzbekistan, and Hull City and Australia defender Lucas Herrington would additionally have anticipated international call-ups for the Asian Cup.
• The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed since of a series of deadly attacks on the host country.
• In October, a missile attack by Yemen's Houthi movement on Riyadh's airport killed 13 individuals and wounded more than 300.

For context, the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed since of a series of deadly attacks on the host country.

Meanwhile, the 24-team tournament was scheduled to take place from 7 January to 5 February but has been rescheduled to run from 23 December, 2027 to 21 January, 2028.

Notably, a statement from the the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), external remarked the decision to reschedule had been taken "in light of the current exceptional circumstances arising from developments in the region, including substantial logistical complexities and travel disruptions".

It continued: "The new dates of the tournament will be presented to Fifa for approval."

For context, a number of events in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled lately, including the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition event. It was scheduled to be in Riyadh.

For context, the Asian Tour has additionally indefinitely postponed it's season-ending golf tournament. It was scheduled to take place from 18-21 November.

This is the second successive Asian Cup to be postponed after the 2023 tournament was moved to 2024 and to Qatar from China since of the Covid pandemic. Saudi minister vows 'serious response' to Houthi attacks on airports.

For context, the decision to postpone the 2027 Asian Cup means a number of Premier League players will not have to miss part of the current season.

Some of the players that would have been projected to be called up were Japan's Zion Suzuki of Aston Villa, Wataru Endo. This person plays for Liverpool, and Daizen Maeda of Ipswich Town.

Japan would have been one of the favourites for the tournament and Villa. This person are in the Champions League, might have had to do without Suzuki for at least seven games if his country had reached the final.

Liverpool are additionally in the Champions League but Endo has yet to play for the Reds this season.

Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma is at present injured but is anticipated to be back afterwards this year and is additionally probable to have been called up by Japan.

For now, asian Cup postponed in wake of attacks on Saudi Arabia remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.