Asia’s leading men’s footballers are preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia for January’s Asian Cup amid rising unease over security, after multiple Houthi missile strikes on Riyadh’s international airport in recent days killed more than a dozen people and wounded hundreds.
The geography of the tournament makes the unrest hard to isolate. Five of the Asian Cup’s eight venues are in Riyadh, where the hosts open against Palestine on 7 January. In all, 31 matches will be staged in the capital, including the final on 5 February, concentrating the bulk of the competition in the city that has been directly targeted.
Nor is the threat confined to Riyadh. Eastern parts of Saudi Arabia were also threatened during the Iran-US conflict this year, including the Persian Gulf city of Al Khobar, which is due to host seven matches — among them Australia v Singapore on 9 January.
Beau Busch, president of Fifpro Asia/Oceania, said his organisation’s thoughts were with all those impacted by the conflict in the region, while acknowledging players’ concerns about the coming tournament. “The safety of players, fans and staff must be the priority and the central consideration in the planning and delivery of the AFC Asian Cup,” he said. Busch is also chief executive of the Australian players’ union, Professional Footballers Australia.
Consternation is building across Asia more broadly. The Japanese Football Association withdrew from the FIFAe video game World Cup, which is due to be held in Saudi Arabia later this month, “following a comprehensive assessment of the current situation in the host country and the available information regarding safety and security”.
The disruption has already reached the club game. Ange Postecoglou’s Riyadh-based Al-Nassr, who have Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks, had an Asian Champions League match delayed by an hour on Monday. A Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh.
Busch said monitoring was continuing, with engagement with Football Australia and external experts ongoing. “Risk assessments are conducted before all camps and will continue to be critically important ahead of the Asian Cup with the ever changing security situation in the region,” he said, adding that work with all stakeholders would continue to ensure player safety, wellbeing and welfare remained the priority ahead of January and the upcoming November friendlies in the region. The Socceroos are due to travel there in the November international window for matches against Qatar in Doha and Jordan in Amman.
Football Australia said it was “closely monitoring the situation in Saudi Arabia”, describing the safety and wellbeing of its players, staff and supporters as paramount and risk assessment as a “key focus” before January. A spokesperson said the governing body remained in regular contact with PFA and would continue its dialogue with the Asian Football Confederation over its tournament plans, guided by the advice of the Australian government. Australia’s Smartraveller website, last updated on Monday, advises travellers to “reconsider your need to travel overall due to the security situation in Saudi Arabia”.
The Asian Football Confederation declined to comment on Tuesday despite the players’ concerns. It has signed up an array of Saudi Arabia-based sponsors for the tournament, including Aramco, Alrajhi Bank and NEOM. Fifa awarded the right to host the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia three years ago, in an abbreviated process that surprised observers.