Socceroos’ March and June qualifiers postponed

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Football Federation Australia (FFA) received confirmation from AFC and FIFA overnight that forthcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and AFC Asian Cup China 2023™ – Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 fixtures have been postponed.

The Socceroos were scheduled to play Kuwait (home) and Nepal (away) this month, as well as Chinese Taipei (home) and Jordan (home) in June, however due to the COVID-19 situation globally, numerous qualification fixtures across the Asian Football Confederation will be rescheduled.

Matches originally scheduled to take place in March and June 2020 have been postponed to dates to be advised by AFC and FIFA in due course.

National teams may still play matches in March or June 2020 upon mutual agreement, provided the safety and health concerns of all individuals involved meet the required standards, subject to prior approval by FIFA and AFC.

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However, given FFA’s intent to put the health and welfare of all players, coaches, staff, and fans first, FFA will not to pursue qualification matches in March or June 2020, and will instead consider possible alternate activity options for the Socceroos in the respective windows over the coming days and weeks.

FFA is working with the Western Australian Government, Tourism WA, and HBF Park regarding the rescheduling of the Kuwait fixture, to ensure that the match is played in Perth later this year.

FFA hopes to be able to communicate the revised match date and kick-off time for the Socceroos’ fixture against Kuwait – previously scheduled for Thursday, 26 March 2020 – soon.

Fans who had already purchased tickets to the Kuwait match in Perth will be contacted in the coming days with further information.