BEVERLY HILL, January 15, (THEWILL) –Â New Zealand’s Auckland City FC, the country’s most successful football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland which competes in the highest level of football in the country, the ISPS Handa Premiership, has pulled out of the FIFA Club World Cup.
They informed world football governing body FIFA that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and related quarantine measures required by the New Zealand authorities, they are unable to participate in the competition this year.
New Zealand Football and the Oceania Football Confederation have been in regular communications with FIFA in recent days to iron out impediments to Auckland City’s participation, but the requirements of the New Zealand authorities in relation to isolation and quarantine go beyond FIFA’s remit and, therefore, a solution could not be reached.
The event is expected to be held in safe environments as FIFA together with the Qatari authorities, are implementing comprehensive medical and security protocols that will provide safeguards required to protect the health and safety of everyone involved throughout the duration of the competition.
In the absence of Auckland City, the FIFA Club World Cup will be contested by the host country’s club Al-Duhail SC of Qatar, Egypt’s Al Ahly SC, FC Bayern Munich of Germany, South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai FC, Tigres UANL of Mexico and the winners of the CONMEBOL Libertadores final scheduled for Saturday, January 30 between Palmeiras and Santos FC.
To adapt for the absence of Auckland City, the first-round match will no longer take place and Al Duhail SC will begin the competition in the second round. Otherwise, the competition format remains the same.
The draw to finalise the pairings will take place in Zurich on 19 January at 15:00 GMT.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
