North Korea’s plans to host a 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Japan next week have been suddenly cancelled, causing event organizers to urgently seek a new location.
According to reports, North Korea has cancelled plans to host a match at the Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang next Tuesday. This decision was made a day before the teams were set to face each other in Tokyo on Thursday for the first of two Asian qualifying Group B matches.
After the game, in which Japan was victorious with a score of 1-0, Kozo Tashima, the head of the Japan Football Association, informed journalists that the planned rematch in North Korea would not take place.
The AFC announced that the game was cancelled due to unexpected circumstances.
The statement released on Friday stated that the AFC was notified on March 20th by the Football Association of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that the match needed to be moved to a neutral location due to unavoidable circumstances. This decision was made in cooperation with FIFA and other involved parties.
The AFC did not provide an explanation for the cancellation and stated that the decision on the fixture’s future would be left up to the appropriate Fifa committees.
The Nikkei Asia website reported that the game has been relocated to an undisclosed neutral location, and there is currently no set date for the event.
Kyodo news agency reported that North Korean media mentioned a “harmful contagious illness” in Japan, believed to be referring to a potentially fatal variant of group A streptococcal disease known as streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS).
Experts in Japan have said cases of STSS will continue to spread, while officials are struggling to identify the cause. The number of cases in 2024 is expected to exceed last year’s record number after the presence of highly virulent and infectious strains were confirmed in Japan.
According to media reports, the players and staff of Japan had scheduled to travel to Pyongyang on Monday following their training in Beijing.
Last month, a qualifying match for the Paris Olympics between the Japanese and North Korean women’s teams was moved from Pyongyang to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the last minute after Japanese football authorities cited difficulties in travelling to North Korea, which has no formal diplomatic relations with Japan.
The second half of the men’s World Cup qualifier was supposed to be the first international sporting event to take place in North Korea since the start of the global health crisis. In response to the pandemic, the government closed its borders and prohibited foreign visitors.
In 2019, North Korea held a men’s soccer event in Pyongyang as part of the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup. However, the country ultimately withdrew from the competition due to health worries surrounding the pandemic.
In June, North Korea will also be the host for World Cup qualifiers against Syria and Myanmar, the other two teams in Group B.
Source: theguardian.com
