Seoul (South Korea): North Korea have pulled out of next month’s qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Asian Football Confederation said Sunday.
“The Asian Football Confederation has today confirmed the withdrawal of the DPR Korea Football Association from the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,” the AFC said in a statement.
The matter will now be referred to the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions and further details on the standings in Group H, which include current leaders Turkmenistan, centralised venue hosts Korea Republic, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, will be announced in due course.
No reasons were given for the withdrawal but South Korean media reported earlier this month that Pyongyang had said it would skip the qualifiers over coronavirus fears.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced most of the second round of Asia’s preliminary tournament for the Qatar World Cup to be postponed until June.
The AFC said last month it would change the format of the tournaments so that each group of five nations would play in one host country.
South Korea was selected as the centralised venue host for Group H, which is led by Turkmenistan and also included the two Koreas, Lebanon and Sri Lanka.
North Korea were fourth in Asian qualifying Group H, but only a point behind Group H leaders Turkmenistan with three games still to be played before their withdrawal.
