Friday's World Cup qualifying showdown between North Korea and Japan has been called off, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced. The cancellation came just hours after it was announced that the match would be moved to a neutral venue. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances," the AFC said in a statement reported by AFP, "the match between Korea DPR and Japan scheduled for 26 March will not take place as planned. The decision was made after discussions with world football's governing body FIFA. It comes a day after North Korea said it couldn't host the match in the capital Pyongyang. 

North Korean officials gave no reason. The AFC said the matter would now be referred to FIFA's "relevant committees". Further updates are expected. It did not confirm whether the match would be played at a future date or venue.

On Friday morning, AFC general secretary Windsor John told AFP: "The game will go ahead at a neutral venue." However, it was later cancelled. The match would have been Japan's first in North Korea since 2011. The play-off and tie-breaking game for the Paris Olympics was moved from Pyongyang to a neutral venue in Saudi Arabia.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday that North Korea would not host the match for fear of bacterial infections in Japan, according to AFP. On the same day, North Korean officials told their Japanese counterparts that they could not host the game, without specifying why.

"They asked us during the break if we could host it in Japan," said Japan Football Association president Kozo Tashima. The two teams met in Tokyo in the first qualifier, which the hosts won 1-0. "I told them it was very sudden. I couldn't give them an immediate yes," Tashima was quoted as saying by Japanese media.

"I told them it would be at least two or three days before we had an answer. I told them it's difficult," he said. Earlier in the week, Japan's foreign ministry warned to football fans not to try to travel to the country for the match.

"As you know, North Korea has a hostile view of Japan and it is not recommended for the general public to travel there," it said in X. It noted that fourteen government officials would accompany the Japanese team to the match, as well as a small number of media, NHK reported.

Relations between the two countries have always been delicate. North Korea qualified for the 2010 World Cup, which was won by Spain in South Africa. The Asians went out in the group stage after three defeats, including a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal. They also qualified in 1966. They beat Italy 1-0 to reach the quarter-finals.