Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Sunday confirmed that North Korea has withdrawn from the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar slated to take place in June.
North Korea has also pulled out of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.
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"The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today confirmed the withdrawal of the DPR Korea Football Association from the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023," AFC said in an official statement.
According to AFC, the matter will now be referred to the organising committee for FIFA Competitions and further details on the standings in Group H, which include current leaders Turkmenistan, centralised venue hosts Korea Republic, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, will be announced in due course.
Meanwhile, the Indian football team will not have to go through a hard quarantine of 10 days when they reach Qatar for a preparatory camp and the 2022 World Cup qualifiers that follow in June.
According to a report in Goal.com, the Indian contingent will have to remain in the bio-secure environment and have to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the organisers.
The Indian side is gearing up for the games and they would be able to start training immediately on arriving in Qatar.
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According to Goal, the Blue Tigers will have to produce a negative coronavirus test result before they assemble in Delhi and then another test will be conducted prior to the departure for Qatar.
While India is out of the reckoning for a 2022 FIFA World Cup spot, the matches against Qatar, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are crucial with an eye on the 2023 Asian Cup.
