Japan Football Association President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto says deteriorating security situation in Saudi Arabia could jeopardize the kingdom’s plans to host the 2027 Asian Cup.
Japan Football Association President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto talks to reporters after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)'s extraordinary congress in Tokyo, Japan, October 23, 2026.
Japan Football Association President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto has warned that the deteriorating security situation in Saudi Arabia could jeopardize the kingdom’s plans to host the 2027 Asian Cup, as escalating regional tensions threaten major international sporting events.
The tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), is scheduled to run from January 7 to February 5, 2027. However, security concerns linked to escalating retaliatory attacks by Yemen’s armed forces have cast doubt on Saudi Arabia’s ability to safely stage the continent’s premier national-team competition.
“Based on what I’ve learned from the news, the situation is still unsafe, so at this point, I don’t think it would be easy to hold the [Asian] Cup there,” Miyamoto told reporters at the AFC’s extraordinary congress in Tokyo.
He added that Saudi officials had said they would work with the AFC to determine whether the competition could proceed, acknowledging that a decision would take time.
Asian football chief Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa recently said that postponing the tournament until 2028 remained a possibility if circumstances required it. However, the local organizing committee (LOC) subsequently reiterated that preparations were continuing according to the original schedule.
“Preparations across all organizational and operational areas are progressing according to the approved schedule, including work on venues, facilities and supporting services,” the LOC said in a statement last week.
The committee added that it would continue monitoring developments relevant to the tournament and ensure that appropriate conditions were in place for its successful delivery.
The uncertainty comes as several major sporting events in Saudi Arabia have already been cancelled, postponed or rescheduled amid the deteriorating security situation.
Earlier this month, golf’s Asian Tour postponed the Saudi International indefinitely, while cycling’s Urban World Championships were cancelled following a retaliatory attack on Riyadh’s international airport.
Other sporting events have also been disrupted. The Six Kings Slam exhibition tennis tournament in Riyadh, which had been scheduled for October, was moved to December, while FIFA postponed the FIFAe Finals 2026 video game competition in Jeddah until an unspecified date.
The developments have raised broader questions about Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to establish itself as a global sporting destination. The kingdom has invested heavily in international sport through its Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The 2027 Asian Cup was also viewed as an important early test of the country’s ability to stage major international football events ahead of its planned hosting of the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
On Friday, Saudi Arabia also postponed the United Nations World Data Forum and the Second Saudi Statistical Forum, originally scheduled for November 9–12 in Riyadh.
The move follows the postponement of the kingdom’s flagship Future Investment Initiative conference, which had been scheduled for October 26–29 and has also been pushed back to 2027.
The latest disruptions come against the backdrop of a wider confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, rooted in Riyadh’s military intervention and prolonged blockade of the southern neighbor.
The escalation began after Saudi Arabia bombed Sanaa’s international airport in July. The Yemeni armed forces responded by enforcing a “blockade for blockade” policy and declaring an embargo on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.
The Yemeni military has announced several successful naval operations targeting ships linked to Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, enforcing the blockade and impacting Riyadh's energy exports.
Yemeni forces have also launched retaliatory attacks on targets deep inside Saudi Arabia and made a rapid advance across Yemen’s coastal plain over the past month, tightening their grip on the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
The war traces back to March 2015, when Saudi Arabia and a US-backed coalition launched a sweeping military campaign and blockade aimed at reinstalling a puppet regime in Sana'a.
Despite years of bombardment and the deployment of advanced Western weaponry, the Saudi coalition has failed to achieve its stated objectives.
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