The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) voted in Tokyo on 23 October 2026 to move the Asian Cup from odd to even years, starting with the 2032 edition, as part of a package of statutory amendments approved unanimously at its Extraordinary Congress. Thanh Niên notes that this makes the 2027 tournament in Saudi Arabia the last odd-year edition. At the same meeting, AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa endorsed Gianni Infantino for another term as FIFA president, two months after the confederation had sided with UEFA and CONCACAF against him.
Why the AFC rewrote its statutes
According to the-AFC.com, the amendments respond to the exceptional circumstances created by FIFA's upcoming changes to the international calendar and were drafted after consulting the world governing body. They are transitional governance rules meant to keep the AFC's electoral cycle in step with its competitions.
Elections for the key posts listed in Articles 32.1(a) to 32.1(e) of the AFC Statutes will still be held in 2027, Thanh Niên and Báo Văn Hóa report. What changes is the start date: those elected will take office on 1 January 2028 for a 2028-2032 term, while officials elected for 2023-2027 serve until the end of 2027. The AFC says this keeps its Executive Committee overseeing Asian Cup preparations at critical moments.
From open letter to embrace
The Guardian, running an Associated Press report, describes the endorsement as a U-turn. In August the AFC joined UEFA and CONCACAF in saying Infantino had committed a "fundamental breach of trust", and the three signed an open letter. Thanh Niên dates that letter to 10 August and links it to the FIFA Forward Enterprise programme, which the Guardian describes as a now-scrapped $4.2bn plan to sell chunks of the World Cup to private investors. Infantino apologised after a FIFA Council meeting in Zurich on 16 October.
In Tokyo, Shaikh Salman hugged Infantino in front of the delegates. "We affirm our full commitment to supporting you and your leadership as you seek a new mandate as the Fifa president," he said, according to the Guardian. On the earlier dispute he added: "Yes, we had some issues we spoke about in the past." He also signalled that not every member would follow: "My feeling is, I'm sure, the feeling of most of my members."
Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 29 April 2026 | 36th AFC Congress in Vancouver |
| 10 August 2026 | AFC, UEFA and CONCACAF joint letter |
| 16 October 2026 | Infantino apology after FIFA Council |
| 23 October 2026 | AFC Extraordinary Congress in Tokyo |
| 18 November 2026 | FIFA presidential nominations close |
| March 2027 | 77th FIFA Congress and election |
| 2027 | Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia; AFC elections |
| 1 January 2028 | New AFC terms begin |
| 2032 | First even-year Asian Cup |
What it means for Vietnam
VFF president Trần Quốc Tuấn attended as a member of the AFC Standing Committee, Bongdaplus reports, alongside vice-presidents Nguyễn Xuân Vũ and Nguyễn Trung Kiên and general secretary Nguyễn Văn Phú. Báo Văn Hóa says the Vietnamese delegation also met Infantino in Tokyo.
Vietnam's own Asian Cup plans are untouched: the 2027 finals go ahead in Saudi Arabia, where Vietnam face South Korea, the UAE and Yemen in Group E (see Vietnam's Asian Cup 2027 kickoff times). The calendar switch only bites from 2032. At FIFA level, Thanh Niên reports that a proposed $6.35bn development fund for 2027-2030 would give each member association, the VFF included, up to $25m over four years, pending approval by the FIFA Congress.
What comes next
Nominations for the FIFA presidency close on 18 November 2026 and, according to the Guardian, no rival candidate had emerged as of 23 October 2026. The vote takes place at the 77th FIFA Congress in March 2027. The AFC says details of its own 2027 elections will be announced in due course.