WC qualifiers postponed

KATHMANDU: The world football governing bodies on Thursday decided to postpone the Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers.

“For both FIFA and the AFC, the well-being and health of all individuals involved in football matches remains the highest priority, and as such, a formal proposal to postpone upcoming matches in the Asian FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers will now be shared with the relevant member associations,” said the FIFA in a release. “FIFA and the AFC will provide an update on these fixtures in the coming days following consultation with the AFC member associations.”

The decision meant Nepal national team’s home fixtures against Australia and Chinese Taipei were postponed. Nepal were scheduled to face Australia on March 31, five days after taking on Chinese Taipei at the Dasharath Stadium. “Other topics of discussion were the women’s Olympic play-off between Korea Republic and China PR, as well as AFC Futsal Championship Turkmenistan 2020. FIFA will continue to monitor the situation in relation to COVID-19 in cooperation with the World Health Organization, the confederations and the member associations. Information on other international matches may be provided by relevant confederation or member association,” FIFA release added.