China match to be re-scheduled

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Football Federation Australia today announced that it has agreed to a request from the China Football Association (CFA) to reschedule the international match that was due to be played in Sydney next month.

Football Federation Australia today announced that it has agreed to a request from the China Football Association (CFA) to reschedule the international match which was agreed to be played between the Socceroos and China at the Sydney Football Stadium on 13 October 2007 as part of a two-match agreement which saw the two countries play in Guangzhou in March.

As the result of the Asian Football Confederation-s recent announcement that they had introduced an additional round of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in October 2007, the CFA requested the rescheduling of the match so that it could focus on it's home-and-away knockout matches against Myanmar on October 8 and 28.

The CFA felt it would have compromised their performance in those World Cup qualifiers had they also travelled to play Australia. The Socceroos commence 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying in a later round, starting in February 2008.

The FFA agreed to the postponement on the basis that it would be unfair to put China's World Cup qualification process in jeopardy and that if China were forced to honour its commitment to play in Sydney, they may have sent a below strength team to Australia.

FFA CEO Mr 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 Mr Buckley.

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

Fortunately tickets have 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. There is no need for ticket purchasers to contact Ticketek or the FFA to obtain their refund.