The Japan Football Association (JFA) has decided to cancel the KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2022 match between the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) and Uzbekistan National Team, which was scheduled to be held at Saitama Stadium 2002 on Friday 21 January.

This match was scheduled to be played in preparation for the AFC Asian Qualifiers (Road to Qatar), but the global outbreak of the Omicron variant of coronavirus has led to the suspension of new arrivals in Japan, and as the host of the KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP, JFA has decided to cancel the event due to the fact that Uzbekistan National Team, who was scheduled to participate in this match, was not permitted to enter Japan by the Japanese government.

We would like to express our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to the fans and supporters who were looking forward to this match, to the Kirin Group companies who are our special sponsors, to our sponsor companies, to Fuji Television Network, who was scheduled to broadcast the match, and to all other parties involved.

We will inform you about the refund of the tickets in due course.

The other fixtures of the AFC Asian Qualifiers (Road to Qatar) against China PR National Team and Saudi Arabia National Team will be held as scheduled on Thursday 27 January and Tuesday 1 February at Saitama Stadium 2002. In the light of the outbreak of the Omicron variant, both matches will be held under stricter quarantine measures than before.

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