Football
ESPN staff 8y

Syria-South Korea World Cup qualifier moved to Malaysia

War-torn Syria's World Cup qualifier with South Korea has been moved from Macau to Malaysia, the Asian Football Confederation told Agence France-Presse on Thursday.

Macau was a late withdrawal as host after talks between Syria and Macau broke down. South Korea, unsure about Tuesday's match, cancelled their bookings for the southern Chinese territory, AFP reported.

An AFC official told AFP via email that the match would be held at the 20,000-seat Paroi Stadium in Seremban, south of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Conflict in Syria has prevented the team from hosting home games. They are among 12 Asian teams vying for four automatic spots for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

A Macau Football Association official earlier told AFP that the match was moved after they had failed to "reach consensus" with Syria, without giving details.

"Because we could not reach consensus with Syria, the match will not be held in Macau," the Macau official said.

South Korea open their bid to reach the World Cup for the 10th time when they play China in Seoul later on Thursday. Iran, Qatar and Uzbekistan are the other teams in Group A.

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