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Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Australia News Socceroos' China Match Called Off

THE Socceroos' scheduled friendly with China next month has been called off, Football Federation Australia have confirmed today.

The Chinese Football Association approached the FFA asking for the match to be cancelled after an extra round was added to their 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

China now faces home and away ties with Myanmar on October 8 and 23 on their road to South Africa.

The extra dates now clash with the proposed Socceroos match which was scheduled for October 13 at Sydney Football Stadium.

"The CFA felt it would have compromised their performance in those World Cup qualifiers had they also travelled to play Australia," said an FFA spokesman.

"The FFA agreed to the postponement on the basis that it would be unfair to put China's World Cup qualification process in jeopardy.

"If China were forced to honour its commitment to play in Sydney, they may have sent a below strength team to Australia."

FFA CEO Ben Buckley said discussions between the FFA and CFA would continue over finding an alternative date.

"It is disappointing for the fans that the match will not take place as planned, but we all recognise how important World Cup qualifiers are to any country and we have agreed to their request on this basis," said Buckley.

"We will continue to work hard to ensure that fans will get the chance to see the Qantas Socceroos in action in Sydney soon."

Tickets had not yet not been on sale to the general public and members of the FFA Football Family and Supporter Groups will be issued with full refunds automatically to their credit card within the next 10 business days, the FFA promised today.

"There is no need for ticket purchasers to contact Ticketek or the FFA to obtain their refund," added the spokesman.

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