ZCZC
BSP-05
FBL-WC-2022-MAC-SRI
Macau pulls team from Sri Lanka World Cup qualifier citing safety
HONG KONG, June 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Macau’s football chiefs have said they
will not send a team to Sri Lanka for a World Cup qualifying match this week,
citing security fears following the deadly Easter suicide attacks.
The Chinese enclave had been due to play Sri Lanka on Tuesday in the second
leg of a qualifying first-round clash.
But in a statement the Macau Football Association (MFA) said it had decided
not to send a team “due to the recent terrorist attack in Sri Lanka and for
the sake of the team’s personal safety”.
The MFA said it had asked FIFA, the Asian Football Confederation and Sri
Lanka’s footballing authorities to switch the match to a neutral venue but
the request had yet to be granted.
“MFA will have to put our players’ personal safety as a priority. And, in
the view of the fact that we cannot guarantee the safety of the team while
they are in Sri Lanka and we cannot afford to take the risk to put our
players’ lives in danger,” the statement, published Saturday night, said.
The decision is a blow for sport in Sri Lanka, a country that has long
hosted international sporting matches but is currently reeling from a series
of coordinated Islamist suicide attacks against churches and hotels on Easter
Sunday that killed more than 250 people.
Macau won the first leg 1-0 at home on Thursday thanks to a second-half
goal from Filipe Duarte as the first round of Asian qualifying for the 2022
FIFA World Cup in Qatar got under way.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1041 hrs