September 29, 2004

A bombing on Sunday in Damascus has thrown both Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup matches involving Singapore clubs into doubt.

A suspected terrorist was killed in a car bomb in Damascus, Syria, a tightly-controlled country where such attacks are virtually unheard of.

With Home United & Geylang United scheduled to play their semi-final first leg AFC Cup ties against Al-Wahda and Al-Jaish there on Oct 19 and 20 respectively, some club officials and players are worried.

The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) have already sought the help of the AFC over the security concerns.

FAS general secretary John Koh said he had a word with the Syrian Football Federation general secretary, Tofik Farhan, about security & had been given assurance that Damascus is safe, but FAS have also sought the AFC's help.

Home United manager David Conceicao said it is inevitable that there are concerns about the safety of  players and officials with various reports in many newspapers about what is happening in Syria.

They just want to want what is really going on.

Adding in a word skipper Aide Iskandar said some have told him that their wives are concerned about the situation there so hopefully, something can be done to reassure everyone

When contacted, a spokesman for the AFC said that they were monitoring the situation in Syria very closely & would make a final decision once officials from the respective countries are consulted.

If the AFC do decide to change the venue of the semi-finals, Home United and Geylang United away matches could be played in neighbouring Lebanon