MALAWI’S World Cup qualifier with Equatorial Guinea was postponed after the visitors allegedly refused to travel amid a dispute with their national federation.
The two sides had been due to meet tonight at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Just hours before the game was scheduled to go ahead, the Football Association of Malawi announced that it had been called off due to “unforeseen travel complications” for their visitors.
Their statement read: “The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) wishes to inform the general public that the Fifa World Cup Qualifier between Malawi and Equatorial Guinea, which was scheduled for today at 18:00hrs at Bingu National Stadium, will not place due to unforeseen travel complications affecting the visiting team.
“FIFA has officially cancelled the match.
“FAM will provide further updates on the status of tickets that were purchased in advance in due cause.
“We sincerely regret any inconvenience this development may cause.”
African football reporter Micky Jnr claims that there was tension between Equatorial Guinea players and their national federation over their travel schedule.
He adds that players were told last night that they’d be flying to Malawi this morning, only to learn today that their journey had been pushed back to the afternoon.
This would have led to players having to get ready on the plane before heading straight to Bingu Stadium to play the match.
Following a meeting, it is alleged that players decided to refuse to travel.
It has not yet been decided what the outcome of the cancelled match will be.
Both Malawi and Equatorial Guinea are scheduled to be in action again during this international break.
The former will travel to Sao Tome and Principe for the final match of their qualifying campaign on Monday.
While Equatorial Guinea are scheduled to host Liberia on the same day.
Last month, the Central African nation failed in their appeal against a six-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player during wins over Namibia and Liberia in November 2023.
Fifa ruled that Emilio Nsue, formerly of Middlesbrough and Birmingham, was never actually given formal clearance to switch his nationality from Spanish to Equatoguinean.
The 46-cap star has since been cleared, but his nation were not given their points back.
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