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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed the withdrawal of North Korea from the FIFA 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers in South Korea.
North Korea were in contention to progress to the next stage of qualifying as they sat in fourth place in Group H, just one point behind leaders Turkmenistan.
But the AFC has confirmed North Korea will no longer play a part in the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup and AFC Asian Cup China in 2023.
According to reports, the DPR Korea Football Association cited coronavirus fears among the reasons for its decision not send the team to South Korea next month, when they were due to face Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.
The AFC said further details on the standings in Group H would be announced in due course, with North Korea’s withdrawal referred to the Organising Committee for FIFA competitions.
Before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the two Korean teams drew 0-0 in their first Group H match at a virtually empty Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang in October 2019.
In response to the pandemic, the AFC has given up the previous home-and-away format and decided that five nations in each group are to gather in one country to finish all of their remaining matches from May 31 to June 15.
The AFC said last month that South Korea was chosen as the host of the remaining Group H matches.
South Korea are scheduled to play Turkmenistan on June 3, North Korea on June 7, Sri Lanka on June 11 and Lebanon on June 15.
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Geoff Berkeley is the chief senior reporter at insidethegames.biz. After joining Midlands-based newspaper publisher Bullivant Media in 2011, Geoff rose through the ranks to become editor of the Malvern Observer and sports editor of several other weekly titles. He then went on to be appointed as the Worcester Warriors correspondent for the Worcester News where he was nominated for Sports Journalist of the Year at the Midlands Media Awards in 2016 and 2017. He also had a spell at Sportsbeat in 2020.
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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.
insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.
Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.
Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.
The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.
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