Decision to ‘quit’ Sri Lanka match based on gov’t warning

The Macau Football Association’s (MFA) decision not to send the Macau team to play in Sri Lanka for the second-leg of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 was based on a government alert for the country, according to a spokesperson from the MFA.

“The Macau Football Association made the difficult decision not to send the [SAR team’s] players to the Sri Lanka match because of concerns about safety,” said the spokesperson. “We made the decision based on the Tourism Crisis Management Office travel alert warning, which advised caution.”

Also questioned on the match between Ka I and Hang Sai, which was interrupted by the referee when the score was 21-18 in favor of Ka I team, the spokesperson said an investigation was underway.

“On Sunday, after we received the result we immediately started an investigation with [the assistance of] both clubs. We scheduled a meeting [yesterday] afternoon [to discuss the matter]. More information will be released in the next two days.”