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Soccer: Japan-North Korea Matches Off the Table

TOKYO, Mar 24 (News On Japan) - During his farewell press conference on March 23, outgoing Japan Football Association President Kozo Tashima addressed the cancellation of the men's soccer World Cup Asian second-round qualifier between Japan and North Korea, which was scheduled for March 26.

Tashima indicated that considering the future schedule of the second-round qualifiers, it would be difficult to arrange a new match date. The match, which was supposed to take place in Pyongyang, North Korea, was announced by the Asian Football Confederation on March 22 as being unable to proceed as planned due to unforeseen circumstances. The matter will now be left to a committee involving FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football, with updates to be announced as soon as decisions are made.

In his press conference, Tashima touched on this issue, stating, "It is no longer possible to arrange a match date. We have two matches in June, and it is not feasible to schedule another one before then." He conveyed the difficulty of scheduling a new game considering the upcoming qualifiers. In the World Cup Asian second-round qualifiers, Japan, which is in Group B, was set to play North Korea in March, followed by matches against Myanmar on June 6 and Syria on June 11.

Source: NHK

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