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Unus Alladin

SOUTH China's waiting game for confirmation on the Asian Cup Winners' Championship final dates looks set to drag on.

  Saudi Arabian side Al-Qadisiyah have still to agree on dates proposed by South China and the sport's governing body in the region, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), admit they are facing a problem.

  South China have proposed March 19 for the home leg of the final at the newly-renovated Hong Kong Stadium.

  The AFC have also suggested the second leg should be played in Saudi Arabia on March 25, giving South China the chance to host the home leg first.

  But problems have begun to crop up for the Saudis, who have already mapped out their own World Cup preparations, having qualified for the United States.

  Al-Qadisiyah have at least four players in their country's 22-strong squad for the World Cup finals and serious training has already started.

  An AFC spokesman said: ''We have quite a problem because the Saudis still have not confirmed the dates, saying they don't fit in with their World Cup plans.

  ''They have already made arrangements to play friendly matches. And the dates are not ideal because they begin fasting (Muslim month of Ramadan) in February through to March.

  ''It's difficult having both teams agree on dates because both teams do have legitimate excuses.''   The AFC have been dogged by fixture problems since the tournament began last summer.

 Several clubs were unable to agree on dates which led to some teams withdrawing because of clashes with domestic tournaments.

  This was the case for J.League side, the Yokohama Marinos, who had to pull out of the semi-finals because of a congested fixture list even though they had won the Cup Winners' Championship twice in the three previous tournaments.

  South China had suggested that they play the home match at Mongkok Stadium on Boxing Day and the away game in the first week of this month, but this was rejected by the Saudis because it was suggested at too short notice.

  Then Al-Qadisiyah proposed January 12 in Hong Kong and February 9 in Saudi Arabia but South China turned down the dates because the home leg clashed with a horse racing meeting and the away leg was too close to the Lunar New Year.

  South China's road to the final began with a 2-1 aggregate win over Chinese side Dalian.

  They then swept aside Indian team East Bengal 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals to become the first Hong Kong club to reach the last four of an Asian club competition since regional competition began in 1967.

  South China were then given a walkover to the final by the Yokohama Marinos' withdrawal.



Cup clashes no nearer a settlement