Victor Manon and his Mexican teammates had clinched spots in Wednesday's semifinals of the under-17 tournament. (Etzel Espinosa/AFP/Getty Images)Another soccer tournament in Mexico has been disrupted by concerns over the swine flu.
CONCACAF announced Tuesday it would postpone its beach soccer championship, which was scheduled to begin Wednesday in Puerto Vallarta.
The announcement comes one day after the governing body for soccer in North America said it was cancelling the rest of its under-17 championship due to concerns about swine flu in Mexico, where the tournament was being played and the epicentre of the outbreak.
CONCACAF made the decision to postpone the beach soccer championship after consulting with FIFA and Beach Soccer Worldwide. Canada was among the six teams at the event.
A new date hasn't been set, and CONCACAF said it's evaluating different options with local authorities.
The organization also announced Monday it will delay the second leg of its Champions League final between CD SC Cruz Azul and Atlante FC, both Mexican clubs, for two weeks until May 12.
Cruz Azul and Atlante FC were to play Wednesday in Cancun for the title of CONCACAF's best club team. Atlante leads the two-game series 2-0 after winning in Mexico City last week.
Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the United States had clinched spots in Wednesday's semifinals of the U-17 tournament, which was being played in Tijuana.
The championship and third-place matches were set for Saturday. All four teams will advance to the U-17 World Cup, which is Oct. 24-Nov. 15 in Nigeria.
But after the Mexican government announced it was closing schools countrywide, CONCACAF decided to abandon the tournament "to safeguard the health of players, officials and fans."
Canada was eliminated from the tournament over the weekend and travelled to San Diego by bus Sunday morning.
Cruz Azul played to an empty stadium Saturday, one of three games held without fans as part of the effort to stem the flu outbreak. The Mexico City club had already said it would do the same for this Saturday's match against Indios of Ciudad Juarez.
With the death toll rising from the epidemic, playing games in empty stadiums is part of a wider effort to contain the outbreak. Health officials say 20 deaths in Mexico are confirmed to be from swine flu. In addition, swine flu is suspected in more than 100 other deaths.
A top baseball team is moving its games this week to northern Mexico, and a weekend diving tournament — headed by leading Chinese divers — was held without any fans.
With files from The Associated Press
