Chennai City FC to play remaining AFC Cup group stage matches in Maldives

Chennai City FC will play their remaining group stage matches of the AFC Cup at the Ramsee-Dhandu National Stadium in Male, Maldives.

After the COVID-19 force majeure postponed all continental club football matches in Asia, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) decided that the AFC Cup group stage matches would resume with a central venue so players can be safely housed and exempted from continuous international travel, reducing their risk of infection.

After bids, the AFC decided to grant the hosting rights of the South Asian group (Group E) to Football Association of Maldives. President of the Maldives FA, Bassam Adeel Jaleel, shared the news on social media.

Maldives has had a relatively low outbreak of the novel coronavirus. According to govt data, by 20th July, Maldives had less than 3,000 total cases, 15 deaths and only 615 cases remained active.

Chennai City FC, who drew 2-2 at home in their first group stage match against Maziya, have 5 matches to go, and have been given the tentative fixtures for those games...

23rd October - TC Sports vs Chennai City

26th October - Chennai City vs Bashundhara Kings

29th October - Bashundhara Kings vs Chennai City

1st November - Maziya vs Chennai City

4th November - Chennai City vs TC Sports

Only the group winners will progress to the knockouts. Single-leg matches may replace the traditional double leg home-away encounters.

The slot is reserved for the league stage winners of the Indian Super League. With Chennai City FC being the sole Indian representatives in Asian club football following Bengaluru FC's exit from the AFC Cup qualifiers, the entire ISL now depends on CCFC, an I-League club, to preserve their cherished ACL slot.