Why did North Korea Cancel the World Cup Qualifier against Japan?

North Korea was supposed to play Japan in a crucial World Cup Qualifier clash next week at home. However, the country has shocked the event organizers by canceling the fixture against Japan. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has however insisted that the decision regarding the cancellation of the North Korea vs Japan match has been made after discussions with FIFA.

The reason behind the cancellation of North Korea vs Japan fixture

North Korea and Japan would have faced each other in a FIFA World Cup Qualifier clash in the former city of Pyongyang. Both the teams faced each other in the reverse fixture when Japan hosted the Koreans in Tokyo. The match was won by Japan via a scoreline of 1-0.

A loss in that game meant the second face-off between both sides on March 26 would have been an important match for North Korea. But, as it turned out reports suggest that the Japanese Football Association’s hierarchy informed the media that they would not host Japan for the reverse fixture at home and that the match will not take place as scheduled.

As per the most recent reports, the AFC has enlisted the match will not be played because of “unforeseen circumstances”. The Asian Federation has also inflicted that they have been pre-informed by the North Korean representatives that they will need the North Korea vs Japan match to be shifted to a neutral venue.

No, detailed reason has been enlisted by the AFC to FIFA regarding the arousal of such unexpected circumstances. Now it is helmed that the responsibility of ensuring that the reverse fixture between North Korea and Japan must be played securely lies solely on FIFA’s shoulder. Going by the history of such situations arising in the past, FIFA has been able to deal with them meticulously and one hopes nothing different this time.

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