The live broadcast signal of the 2023 AFC U23 Championship draw ceremony was suddenly lost right before the event took place.
The newspaper commented: "China U23 fell into an extremely difficult group at the 2024 U23 Asian Cup when they had to face Japan, South Korea and the UAE. Next year's tournament is important when selecting teams to participate in the 2024 Olympics. The top three teams will go straight to the Olympics and the fourth team will participate in the play-off round.
However, the AFC created a suspicious situation during the draw. The agency sold the broadcasting rights for the event. However, it is hard to believe that the AFC was so amateurish as to cut off the live broadcast, even though the whole of Asia was interested in the ceremony.
No one knows how the draw was made. It's hard to believe that all the strong teams in East Asia, Japan U23, South Korea U23 and China U23, were put in one group. The task of getting through the group stage is too difficult for China U23."
Chinese newspaper accused AFC of cheating by deliberately putting the home team in a difficult position (Photo: AFC).
Sohu also expressed AFC's bias towards teams in West Asia and Central Asia. The newspaper added: "We know that AFC has always been controlled by West Asian countries. The person in charge of the draw is the Chairman of the AFC Financial Committee from Uzbekistan. As a result, U23 Uzbekistan fell into an easy group for the Chairman of the AFC Financial Committee from Uzbekistan.
Similarly, U23 Saudi Arabia also fell into an easy group with Iraq, Thailand, and Tajikistan. Obviously, U23 Uzbekistan and U23 Saudi Arabia have a big advantage over other championship candidates."
The 2024 AFC U23 Championship will take place from April 15 to May 3, 2024. Currently, the Organizing Committee has not announced the specific match schedule of U23 Vietnam.
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