China to play 2 World Cup qualifiers in Thailand
>> BEIJING: China will play their 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Maldives and Guam behind closed doors in Thailand because of the coronavirus, the Chinese Football Association said on Friday.
It is just the latest disruption to sport in China, the epicentre of an outbreak that has left more than 2,200 people dead in the country and sparked global alarm.
China, who feature forward Wu Lei, will play the Maldives on March 26 and Guam on March 31 at Chang Arena, in Buri Ram.
The Thai government asked that both games take place without any fans because of the coronavirus, the CFA said.
The Guam match was originally supposed to take place there, and is nominally a home match for them.
China are in danger of missing out on the Qatar 2022 World Cup because they are second in qualifying Group A, eight points behind leaders Syria who beat the Chinese 2-1 in November.
The eight group winners and four best second-placed sides go through to Asia’s next qualifying stage for Qatar.
Meanwhile, China will play the “home” second leg of their Olympic women’s football qualifier against South Korea in Sydney, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Friday, after the deadly coronavirus made it impossible to hold the match in China.
The game, which will decide qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, will be staged at Campbelltown Stadium on March 11, with the first leg in South Korea on March 6.
“The winners of the two-legged playoff will seal their place in the Tokyo Olympics alongside hosts Japan and winners from the other play-off match, which sees Australia take on Vietnam on the same dates,” the AFC said in a statement.
China’s women’s team reached the play-offs after coming through undefeated in three matches in a qualifying tournament in Australia this month.