Vanuatu has withdrawn from the Oceania Qualifying Tournament for the World Cup finals in Qatar due to a majority of its players and staff testing positive for Covid-19, the National Football Federation (VFF) said.
In addition, the Cooks Islands second game has been postponed due to covid-positive cases in their squad.
Vanuatu’s first match of the tournament against Tahiti has been postponed due to a number of positive Covid-19 cases in its camp. Vanuatu was then scheduled to play Solomon Islands tomorrow morning.
Vanuatu trained in Qatar before the FIFA World Cup Oceania qualifier.
Photo: OFC Media
Oceania is organizing a mini-tournament in Doha to decide which team will go into an intercontinental playoff against the fourth-best team from North America, Central America and the Caribbean for a place in the finals.
“Vanuatu’s next game day is in the next two days, and the VFF does not have enough time to replace the players and officials … The current circumstances are beyond their control,” the government government said in a statement.
“Under the Ministry of Public Health regulations for the State of Qatar Healthcare Protocol, the positive cases must be isolated for a minimum period of seven days.
“The VFF Executive Committee seeks the assistance of the OFC and FIFA whenever it is possible to waive disciplinary sanctions against the team’s withdrawal.”
In the matches that were played, the Solomon Islands defeated the Cook Islands 2-0, New Zealand defeated Papua New Guinea 1-0 and Fiji defeated New Caledonia 2-1.
In addition to the Vanuatu retreat, a number of Cook Islands players tested positive on Covid-19 and were unable to field a team on game day 3.
The Cook Islands were scheduled to play Tahiti on Monday morning.
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