Women’s soccer Incheon Hyundai Steel is aiming for the top
Women’s soccer Incheon Hyundai Steel is aiming for the top of Asian women’s club soccer. It’s a tough challenge, but the timing of the announcement to fans is disappointing as it comes just before kickoff.
Hyundai Steel will play the Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies in the final of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Club Championship on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Urawa Komaba Stadium in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
Established in 2019, the AFC Women’s Club Championship is a test stage for the AFC Women’s Champions League, which will be launched in the 2024-2025 season.
The league champions from eight countries, including Korea, Japan, Australia, Iran and Uzbekistan, were divided into two groups of four teams and played the group stage from November 6-12 last year.
Hyundai Steel, which advanced as the Korean WK League champion, 토토사이트 defeated Sydney FC (Australia) 3-0, Bam Khatun FC (Iran) 2-1, and FC Nasaf (Uzbekistan) 2-0 in Group B to reach the final.
Group B champions Hyundai Steel were scheduled to face Group A champions Urawa in the final, but the match never took place as the AFC canceled the fixture without any notice.
This led to criticisms of the AFC’s unilateral actions and the administrative capacity of the Korean Women’s Football Association, which oversees the WK League.
Fortunately, the match was recently rescheduled after the AFC notified both leagues and their respective clubs of the final date.
The problem is that, despite this being the final of a meaningful competition to determine the best in Asian women’s club soccer, the federation announced the news on social media the morning of the match. In the case of Hyundai Steel, the announcement was made on social media on the 9th, the day before.
The Japanese WE League, on the other hand, announced in March that the finals would not be held, and on March 25, the league’s official channel clarified the match schedule and venue.
This is in contrast to the WK League, which announced the start of the tournament as it was nearing.
“We were informed that the tournament would be held,” a federation official told Newsis, “I’m not sure what happened in the middle of the process (of holding the final). 파워볼실시간 We were informed of the tournament through the Korea Football Association and informed the clubs.”
However, during the consultation process, the KFA reportedly supported the federation, which has no experience in international tournaments, in terms of ‘business cooperation’.
Ahead of the Women’s ACL, which will be held next season, the federation will have to improve its administrative capacity.