Friday, the FIFA confirmed that the age bar may be lifted at the Tokyo Olympics so that players who were eligible to participate in 2020 will not be absent from competitions after the games are postponed to the following year.
Usually, the men's Olympic soccer competition is restricted to teams under the age of 23, and each team is allowed only three players over that age.
But the International Federation said in a statement that a working group set up by FIFA recommended, on Friday, that the competition continues to be open to players born on or after January 1, 1997, as initially planned.
This actually means increasing the age barrier by one year as requested by South Korea and Australia, and there is no age bar in the women's competition.
The working group also recommended the postponement of all international matches scheduled for June, a formality in light of the European Championship 2020 and the Copa America already being delayed due to the COVID-19-pandemic.
The recommendations still need to be approved by the FIFA office, which is a smaller version of the International Federation's decision-making board.
FIFA said: FIFA affirms that health must always be the priority and the primary component of any decision-making process, especially in these difficult times.
The working group suggested holding talks with the continental federations to reach a revised schedule for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers after the March and June meetings were postponed.
It also recommended postponing the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which was to be hosted by Panama and Costa Rica in August and September, and the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in India, which was scheduled for November.
FIFA said a decision on the World Cup inside the halls in Lithuania in September should be made at the end of this month.
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