Kuala Lupur, July 22: Asia's flagship four-yearly football tournament, the Asian Cup, will be shunted forward by one year starting from 2007 to avoid fixture congestion, organizers said.
The showpiece competition will be held in China next year, and under the old schedule the edition after that would have taken place in 2008, a statement said. But a desire to give the tournament a free slot in the crowding international footballing calendar has prompted the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to move the competition's four-yearly cycle.
Next year's 16-team tournament, to be staged in late July and early August across China, is squeezed between Euro 2004 in Portugal and the summer Olympics in Athens.
The change was agreed at a meeting of the AFC'S executive commitee in Kuala Lumpur. The committee also agreed on a rotation for the tournament, with the venue switching between the four zones of the Asian footballing region.
The change means that a country from southeast Asia will host the 2007 tournament.
Bureau Report.