AFC drops co-hosting Nepal due to political unrest

The Asian Football Confederation has revoked its decision to allow Nepal to co-host the AFC Challenge Cup along with Bangladesh, owing to political unrest in the country. "In the meeting of the AFC Challenge Cup and AFC President's Cup Organizing Committee at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, it was decided that Bangladesh would be the sole host of the AFC Challenge Cup, due to the current unrest in Nepal," the AFC said, as quoted by the Nepaleyes Report (Kathmandu).

The AFC Challenge Cup, which provides a platform for international competition for 16 teams from emerging and developing countries, will now be played in two venues, Dhaka and Chittagong. The date of the tournament has also been rescheduled to 1-16 April to avoid clashing with Bangladesh's Independence Day activities on 26 March.