May 17 – North Korea has officially pulled out of qualification for the 2022 World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation has confirmed, dashing hopes of squaring up on the field against their fierce rivals from the south.
Earlier this month North Korea’s football association (PRKFA) sent a letter to the AFC declaring that the team would not participate in the second round of qualifiers and that has now been rubber-stamped.
The move comes after the country had already withdrawn from the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer because of concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
“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.
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 already forced most of the second round of Asia’s preliminary tournament for the Qatar World Cup to be postponed until June.
The AFC has changed the format of the group stage so that each group of five nations would play in one-country hubs.
South Korea was selected as the centralised venue host for Group H, which is led by Turkmenistan and would have included the two Koreas, plus Lebanon and Sri Lanka.
Prior to its withdrawal, North Korea were fourth in Group H, level on points with South Korea but only a point behind Group H leaders Turkmenistan with three games still to be played.
The AFC said a decision would be made later on the group standings after referring the matter to FIFA. The tournament doubles up as qualifiers for the 2023 Asian Cup, to be held in China, so North Korea will miss that too.
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