Insecurity in Riyadh Disrupts South Korea's National Team Schedule; Seoul Concerned!

South Korean football federation officials plan to change their friendly match schedule due to insecurity in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia.

Officials of the South Korean Football Federation are planning to make changes in the schedule of their preparatory games due to insecurity in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia.

According to Mehr reporter, the growing insecurity in the Middle East and the developments surrounding the country of Saudi Arabia, the host of the 2027 Nations Cup, have worried the football programs of South Korea. Conditions that could affect the team's friendly matches away from home in November, as well as preparations for the Asian Cup, which is scheduled to begin in January.

Korean media "heraldcorp" wrote: An official of the South Korean Football Federation announced on Monday that the federation has a close relationship with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and has carefully monitored the situation. The South Korean Football Association is also considering various options for away friendlies scheduled for next month.

With the report of several powerful explosions in the center of Riyadh, security concerns in Saudi Arabia have increased even more.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea also raised the travel warning level for all of Saudi Arabia to level three, which means "recommendation to leave the country", as of 10:00 p.m. Sunday. The ministry asked Korean citizens present in Saudi Arabia to leave the country, except in cases where their presence is necessary. Also, people who plan to travel to Saudi Arabia were advised to cancel or postpone their trip.

These measures are expected to have a significant impact on the plan of the South Korean national team to travel to Saudi Arabia.

The South Korean national team, which is currently under the guidance of its interim head coach Roberto Moreno, planned to hold a camp in the Middle East during the FIFA national games window from October 9 to 17 in order to prepare for the Asian Nations Cup next year. According to the schedule, South Korea was supposed to meet Saudi Arabia and play at least one more friendly match against one of the regional teams in a neighboring country.

The Saudi sports newspaper "Al-Riyazia" reported on Wednesday that the Saudi national team is going to face South Korea, Uzbekistan and several other teams in friendly matches in November. However, the rapidly deteriorating security situation has cast doubt on these plans.

The immediate challenge of the South Korean Football Federation is to find an opponent and a new place to hold the match; And that too in the situation that there is only about a month left until the planned time. This federation should now prioritize the safety of the players on the one hand, and on the other hand, not disrupt the preparation process of the national team to participate in the Asian Nations Cup.

Concerns have also spread to the Asian Nations Cup itself. The Asian Nations Cup 2027 will be hosted by Saudi Arabia from January 7th to February 5th next year. Riyadh is one of the three host cities for these competitions, and for this reason, the deterioration of security conditions has become an important and influential factor in the preparation process for holding the competitions.

In the worst possible scenario, the possibility of changing the host country of the Asian Nations Cup cannot be ruled out. However, any further action in this regard will ultimately depend on the decision of the AFC.