The 36th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship (Group-D) 2009, which was earlier scheduled from 8th-16th December 2009 in Lahore, has been shifted to the capital of Iran due to security concerns. The AFC had acceded to Iran's request to host the 36th AFC U19 Championship (Group-D) 2009 from 8-16 December 2009, a spokesman of Pakistan Football Federation said.
PFF's General Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Khan Yar Lodhi (Retd) said the event was to be held on Pakistani soil after a lapse of 23 years but the AFC were not satisfied with security environment in Pakistan and decided to organise the event at Takhti Stadium Tehran instead of Punjab Stadium.
On December 8, Iran will take on Lebanon. The fifth team of the event is Uzbekistan. The top two teams and best third-placed team from the West will join the 13 teams who have already qualified for the next year's finals. "Pakistan has a strong tradition of sports and football is emerging to be one of the country's passions. The PFF President pledged to continue his drive towards modern football with emphasis on youth development, women soccer and to professionalise the game in Pakistan," Lodhi added.
The AFC U-19 Championship was organised to provide another tier of competitive international football in Asia with the aim of training young players in the region. The players who represented U-13, U-14, U-16, U-17 teams from 2003 to 2009 will be part of U-19 teams.
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