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2027 Asian Cup Suspended Offering Boost To Crystal Palace
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- 2027 Asian Cup Suspended Offering Boost To Crystal Palace
(IMAGO / Sportimage)
Henry Swain discusses the suspension of the Asian Cup
The Asian Cup, which was due to take place across the coming January/February has been suspended until December of 2027 after a series of deadly attacks on host country Saudi Arabia, according to a report from BBC Sport .
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The Asian Football Federation made the call to suspend the tournament following a missile attack on Riyadh airport which killed 13 people last month.
There have been a number of sporting events cancelled in Saudi Arabia in recent months, as ongoing conflict makes the region unsafe to host such huge sporting events.
But how was the Asian Cup going to impact Crystal Palace , and what could change for the club with this news?
Key players stay put
Whilst Palace have never had too many players competing in the Asian Cup, this year, there was the chance, fitness providing, that both Daichi Kamada and Takehiro Tomiyasu could be off for two huge months in the season.
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Whilst Tomiyasu has been injured for large parts of the season, Kamada has continued to be a key figure under Pierre Sage, and one of the team's most important players.
The idea of losing him for what could have been as many as six weeks was truly frightening, especially considering the club hadn't really seemed to prepare for his potential absence.
There's also the huge caveat that Kamada most likely won't be a Crystal Palace player next year when the tournament finally comes around. He's in the final year of his contract and there's been no signs that he will extend.
Based on the current schedule, Kamada and Tomiyasu would have missed approximately seven games. Not only would that cause a huge tactical issue for Sage, but at the same time would add another uncontrollable issue to a pile of those which is stacking up week on week at the moment.
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The tournament being moved could also see Palace hold off from spending any more money on midfield reinforcements.
Whilst the club will know if Kamada is going to stay or not next season, they should probably make the jump to bring in his long-term replacement sooner rather than later, but that would not be typical behaviour for the club.
There's a growing number of Asian players in the Premier League, and whilst Palace won't be the only side to benefit, they will undoubtedly see this as positive news, especially with the current injury issues within the squad both short and long-term.
Villa's Zion Suzuki, Liverpool's Wataru Endo, Ipswich Town's Daizen Maeda and Leeds United's Ao Tanaka would all have missed out on club games in that time too.
