Ultimate governing body of Football in Asia, Asian Football
Confederation (AFC) has 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.
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, centralized venue hosts Korea Republic, Lebanon
and Sri Lanka, will be announced in due course.
Pyongyang
has not yet given an official reason for pulling out of next month’s qualifiers
for the tournament, to be held in Qatar in November and December 2022, but
South Korean media has reported that it is because of concerns over COVID-19.
Due
to the spread of the virus, there have been no qualifiers in Asia since November
2019 and in order to reduce travel as the games resume, the AFC has ruled that
all group matches in the second round of qualification will be played in hubs.