Even before the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) 2019 Asian Cup officially kicked off, there was controversy when hosts UAE denied entry to Qatar’s AFC Vice President Saoud Al Mohannadi, who is also chairman of the competition’s organising committee.

However, the crisis was resolved after Al Mohannadi was granted permission to enter the UAE yesterday. He also chaired a meeting of the Organising Committee of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in Abu Dhabi yesterday, reported Gulf Times.

The meeting discussed the final preparations for the tournament, which kicks off today with a Group A match between hosts UAE and Bahrain.

Al Mohannadi thanked members of the committee for the great effort they put in for the tournament’s organisation. He said the competition, which will be the biggest-ever with 24 teams competing, was ready for the opening match.

Al Mohannadi said the committee was proud to work with the AFC to promote the game among women and girls in the UAE, and inspiring them to take part in the sport, reported Qatar Tribune.

He also expressed happiness about the competition’s 2019 edition seeing the introduction of VAR in seven matches, starting from the quarterfinals onwards.

In another first, the tournament will allow the substitution of an additional player in extra time. He noted that there was a record number of referees and prize money at this year’s tournament.