Fifa cancel North Korea match against Japan

The North Korea-Japan Fifa World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang on Tuesday was cancelled by Fifa on Saturday. Fifa “decided that the qualifying fixture shall neither be played nor rescheduled.” Because North Korea did not provide an alternate venue and there was no time for a postponement.

Fifa World Cup: Fifa cancel North Korea match against Japan

The statement said “The matter and match outcome will be referred to the FIFA disciplinary committee,” meaning North Korea will forfeit 3-0. North Korea stated it couldn’t host Japan and demanded a neutral location “due to unavoidable circumstances,” the Asian Football Confederation said this week.

Due to the bad relations between the two nations, some Fifa fans may have predicted this. North Korea defeated 1-0 to Japan in Tokyo on Thursday. North Korea has only won one of three Asia qualifications Group B games away. The country only qualified for the 1966 and 2010 World Cups. Japan leads the Asia qualifiers with three wins. In June, Korea will play Syria and Myanmar at home.