Asia

FIFA wants VAR video reviews to be applied in the same way across all competitions, as they take over direct responsibility for the system.

Issues concerning VAR have been handled primarily by IFAB, the game's law-making body, during the system's two-year experimental phase and its introduction as part of the laws of the game. Soccer's global governing body FIFA, however, took over the role of supporting competition organizers with the implementation of VAR from July 1.

SYDNEY — Football Federation Australia (FFA) will be forced to request exemptions to allow Melbourne's three A-League clubs into New South Wales for the rest of the season after failing to get them out of Victoria on Monday.

After a spike in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne, the border between Victoria and New South Wales will be closed for an indefinite period from midnight on Tuesday. For Melbourne residents the closure came 24 hours earlier.

Professional soccer returned to Japan on Saturday after more than a three-month layoff. While the first round of matches was played in empty arenas, fans of Japanese soccer will now be able to attend games in person.

Beginning Friday, July 10, capacity at matches will be limited to 5,000 fans, or 50 percent capacity in stadiums that hold less than 10,000 spectators. The announcement was made following a joint coronavirus task force meeting Monday that included health officials and leaders from Japanese sports leagues. 

MUMBAI — A storm could be brewing in India's top-flight soccer, a glamorous and acrimonious world that encompasses Asia's richest man, the cream of Bollywood and a self-styled former gangster.

Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire tycoon who commands the Reliance Industries corporate empire that owns the Indian Super League, is facing pushback to his family's dominance from some executives in the country's soccer association and clubs.

A joint bid from Australia and New Zealand was voted the 2023 Women's World Cup host by the FIFA Council on Thursday.

The Australia-New Zealand bid was a heavy favorite to win the hosting rights after Brazil and Japan both pulled out in the weeks leading up to the vote. Colombia was the only other nation vying to become the 2023 Women's World Cup host.

The Japanese Football Association announced on Monday that Japan is withdrawing its bid to host the 2023 Women's World Cup, just days before football's world governing body holds a vote to determine the successful candidate.

An outbreak of the coronavirus in Beijing has further "complicated" plans to start the postponed Chinese Super League (CSL), a medical expert advising the country's soccer association said.

The CSL was scheduled to start in February but has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19.

The outbreak in Beijing, where there have been more than 180 infections recorded in just over a week, could cause further delays, Zhang Wenhong, an infectious disease specialist, told state television.

And then there were three. On Monday, Brazil withdrew its candidacy to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, leaving Colombia, Japan and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand as the remaining contenders before the final FIFA Council vote on June 25.

Tel Aviv's Bloomfield Stadium has installed a special tunnel to spray soccer players arriving for matches with a fine disinfectant mist to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

The pilot of the tunnel, which will run until the end of the season, comes as sports leagues around the globe are preparing to resume play but grappling with how to ensure the health of players and fans. Israel's soccer league has resumed but behind closed doors.

As hundreds of thousands die from a global pandemic, as livelihoods are ruined by a tanking economy and as Minneapolis burns amid protests over a black man dying at the hands of police, 2020 has already reached a decade’s worth of devastation in five months.