2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia postponed after attacks, rescheduled to December 2027 - January 2028

The 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia has been postponed following a series of deadly attacks on the host country, with the tournament moved to new dates.

The 24-team tournament had been scheduled to take place from 7 January to 5 February. Under the new schedule it will run from 23 December 2027 to 21 January 2028.

In October, a missile attack by Yemen's Houthi movement on Riyadh's airport killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.

In a statement, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said 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.

The AFC added that the new dates of the tournament will be presented to Fifa for approval.

A number of events in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled recently, including the Six Kings Slam tennis exhibition event, which was scheduled to be held in Riyadh.

The Asian Tour has also indefinitely postponed its season-ending golf tournament, which had been scheduled to take place from 18 to 21 November.

This is the second successive Asian Cup to be postponed. The 2023 tournament was moved to 2024 and relocated to Qatar from China because of the Covid pandemic.

The postponement means a number of Premier League players will not have to miss part of the current season. Among those who would have been expected to be called up were Japan's Aston Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, Liverpool's Wataru Endo and Ipswich Town's Daizen Maeda.

Leeds United's Ao Tanaka, Crystal Palace duo Takehiro Tomiyasu and Daichi Kamada, and Hull City's Hidemasa Morita also play for Japan. Japan would have been one of the favourites for the tournament, and Villa, who 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 also in the Champions League, but Endo has yet to play for the Reds this season.

Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma is currently injured but is expected to be back later this year and was also likely to have been called up. Manchester City defender Abdukodir Khusanov of Uzbekistan and Hull City and Australia defender Lucas Herrington would also have expected international call-ups for the Asian Cup.