[1] The competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic after group stage matches on 11 March 2020,[2] and was originally to resume on 23 September 2020.
[3] However, the season was eventually cancelled by the AFC on 10 September 2020 on account of the continuing pandemic.
[2] The West Asia Zonal semi-finals were also initially moved to 24–25 August and 14–15 September.
[3] The AFC announced the cancellation of the remainder of the competition on 10 September 2020, due to logistics in coordinating the five zones.
The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2019, 14:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.