Qatar and Australia have given up on participating in the 2021 Copa America for which they were invited, due to a scheduling problem, an official from the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), organizer of the tournament, said on Tuesday. .
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Posted the 02/23/2021 10:14 PM
Reading time : 1 min.
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Initially invited to play in the Copa America, Qatar will ultimately not be able to travel to South America to afford a full-scale test one year before its World Cup at home. “The Copa America is fully confirmed, but Qatar and Australia will not be able to come. The Asian Confederation has scheduled qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on dates that overlap with those of the Copa”, explained on Tuesday Gonzalo Belloso, secretary general of Conmebol on Argentinian radio La Red, specifying that the two teams would not be replaced.
“The days of the matches of the two invited nations, their opponents will have a day of rest. The Copa will keep all its splendor”, he assured. The Copa America 2021 will take place from June 11 to July 11, 2021 in Colombia and Argentina. It was due to take place in 2020, but had been postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Australia, of which it was to be the first participation, should have faced Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Urugay in the group stage of this 47th edition of the Copa America.
Qatar, already invited in 2019, had been poured into the other group with Colombia, Brazil, defending champions, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The Qatari football federation clarified that its withdrawal was explained by “the decision of the Asian football confederation to postpone qualifying matches for the 2023 Asian Cup and the 2022 World Cup”.
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