Still no venue confirmation from Timor Leste — AFC

KUALA LUMPUR: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have yet to receive any confirmation from Timor Leste on the venue for the match against Malaysia on June 11.

Although, the due date had passed last Tuesday (April 30) for the submission of the venue, AFC secretary-general Datuk Windsor Paul John said the Timor Leste Football Federation (TLFF) still had not submitted any alternative venue for the second leg of the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup Joint Qualifiers Round 1 match.

“No official confirmation or official letter from Timor Leste at the moment,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

Timor Leste had to name an alternative venue for the match as its Dili Municipal Stadium lacks facilities to host international matches.

Malaysia was supposed to host the first leg on June 6, but Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam had earlier said the national football governing body would appeal to AFC to change the date to June 7 once Timor Leste had confirmed the venue, as Hari Raya Aidilfitri is expected to be celebrated on June 5.

He also expressed Malaysia’s willingness to host the return leg.

For the record, the ‘Rising Sun’ squad had turned to Malaysia twice to play their home fixtures here, namely, for the return leg of the 2016 Asian Cup qualifiers in 2016 at the Larkin Stadium in Johor and its home fixtures for the 2018 AFF Cup at the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) Stadium in Cheras, end of last year.

Malaysia, ranked 168th in the world, would have to win the play off match to advance to the second round of the qualifications, where six teams from Round 1 would be joined by 34 highest ranked teams in Asia, including Asian champions and World Cup hosts, Qatar.