Coronavirus: 2022 World Cup qualifiers postponed in Asia

Bengaluru, March 9: The upcoming AFC World Cup qualifiers have been postponed due to the spread of coronavirus.

FIFA announced on Monday that, following consultation with the AFC and Asia's member associations, matches scheduled to take place in the international windows of March 23-31 and June 1-9 will take place at later dates.

A statement from FIFA added: "However, in order to support the member associations concerned, and provided that the safety of all individuals involved meets the required standards and that the member associations due to play each other mutually agree, the match(es) may still be played during the international windows of March or June 2020, but always subject to prior approval from both FIFA and the AFC."

Hosts Qatar are already qualified for the 2022 World Cup. Syria, Australia, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Japan, Vietnam and Turkmenistan top the groups in the second round of AFC qualifying.

There have been 109,343 confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, with 3,809 deaths. China, the source of the outbreak, has 80,904 confirmed cases, South Korea has 7,382 and Iran 6,566.