In a recent development, it has been reported that North Korea has decided not to host a World Cup qualifier match with Japan that was supposed to take place in Pyongyang next week, as stated by the president of the Japan Football Association (JFA), Kozo Tashima.
Following Japan’s 1-0 victory over North Korea in another qualifier held in Tokyo, Tashima confirmed, “A game will not be played in Pyongyang.”
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had previously informed the JFA that the match between the two nations was scheduled for March 26 in Pyongyang, according to the report.
North Korea, lacking formal diplomatic ties with Tokyo, has apparently opted not to host the match in its capital due to concerns about infectious diseases in Japan, as reported by Kyodo.
It remains uncertain whether the match will still proceed on the planned date and venue, as per Kyodo’s information.
At the moment, there has been no response from the AFC in regards to a request for further clarification.
Upon the recent turn of events, the Samurai Blue squad has canceled their scheduled flight to Beijing set for Friday morning and is now planning to conduct their training in Chiba prefecture, as confirmed by the JFA.
In 2019, North Korea last hosted a men’s soccer international in Pyongyang during the qualifying rounds for the 2022 World Cup, where they withdrew from the competition citing health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The North Korean team is also set to host home qualifying matches against Syria and Myanmar in June.
Earlier this year, an Olympic qualifier match between the women’s teams of Japan and North Korea, originally planned for Pyongyang, was unexpectedly moved to a neutral venue in Saudi Arabia at the last minute.
There was a similar instance of uncertainty surrounding that match, with the Japan team departing for Jeddah days before the scheduled kickoff without any confirmation on the location of the game.
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Chang-Ran Kim, editing by Nick Mulvenney and Gerry Doyle)
