FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have agreed to postpone the Asian World Cup qualifying matches in March and June.
The announcement come following the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus and the concerns about the spread of the disease, the world soccer body said on Monday.
"Following consultation with Asia's member associations, FIFA and the wider Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have agreed to postpone the upcoming Asian qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022," football body FIFA said in a statement posted on its website.
The matches in question 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.
Update on upcoming @FIFAWorldCup qualifiers - https://t.co/5Kd4TQX5RT
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) March 9, 2020