FIFA AND THE Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have agreed to postpone all Asian World Cup qualifiers in March and June due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

World soccer’s governing body on Monday confirmed the move which will see fixtures from both March and June pushed back to later dates.

However, Fifa also added in their statement that some of the affected matches may still be played provided both member associations mutually agree, and on the condition that they receive prior approval from both Fifa and the AFC.

“Following consultation with Asia’s member associations, Fifa and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have agreed to postpone the upcoming Asian qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022™ as follows:

“- Matches originally scheduled to take place during the international window of 23-31 March 2020 and 1-9 June 2020 are postponed to later dates
“- Fifa and the AFC will discuss further details of the postponed matches

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.