REUTERS: FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have agreed to postpone the Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the world soccer body said on Monday.

"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," FIFA said in a statement https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/update-on-upcoming-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers.



The matches were scheduled to take place during the international window of March 23-31 and June 1-9.

FIFA added that the matches could still go ahead if the member associations due to play each other mutually agree, subject to prior approval from both FIFA and the AFC.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Alison Williams)