Malaysia, North Korea Asian Cup match should be postponed, says Hong Kong chief Mark Sutcliffe
Football Association of Malaysia asks Asian Football Confederation to switch March 28 fixture from Pyongyang
Malaysia’s Asian Cup qualifier against North Korea should be postponed, not moved to a neutral venue following the recent breakdown in relations between the two countries, Hong Kong FA chief executive Mark Sutcliffe said on Thursday.
The Football Association of Malaysia have asked the Asian Football Confederation to switch the March 28 fixture from Pyongyang because of the diplomatic crisis caused by last month’s death of the estranged half-brother of North Korea ruler Kim Jong-un.
Malaysia has said assassins used VX nerve agent, a chemical listed by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction, to kill Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13.
Hong Kong and Lebanon will also play in North Korea during qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup, the continent’s equivalent of the European Championships, and Sutcliffe said a postponement would better preserve the integrity of the competition.
“It seems to me that a postponement is a sensible solution,” he told Reuters by e-mail on Thursday.
“I do not think that such an action would have a negative impact. It is quite feasible to play two matches within a Fifa international match day period.