The Philippines national team is on standby expecting a busy schedule in the final quarter of the calendar year, as the resumption of the Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup is being targeted. Furthermore, there will also be the AFF Suzuki Cup to provide more fixture condition for the team. The football Federation’s president Nonong Araneta has confirmed that the Asian football Federation is looking at the possibility of holding the World Cup qualification matches in October and November. These were recently shelved as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Philippines still have three matches left in the group matches and the national team are third in the standings. Syria are the table leaders with 15 points while China are level on with seven points. However, the Chinese have a better goal difference. The three remaining games for Philippines are against Guam, China, and Maldives. If the World Cup qualifiers comes through in September and October, then it could mean that the AFF Suzuki cup could be moved to the December slot. International football remains on hold as of now, but domestic football has been receiving support in different parts of the world. For the time being, most of the games are likely to be held in a regional manner before moving to international destinations.
“The Suzuki Cup will start in November. So, if there is a conflict with the World Cup Qualifiers, it is talked about and if the Suzuki Cup continues then we can schedule it in December and maybe the finals will be in January. Those are the different scenarios right now,” said Araneta. South Korea was one of the best countries to contain the virus and that they have restarted the league without any spectators. The domestic league managing to come back is completely dependent on the government policies, according toAraneta.