The Youth and Sports Ministry have given the green light to the national football squad to travel to Pyongyang for their Asian Cup qualifier match against North Korea next month.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and government must respect the decision of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
AFC announced yesterday that there will be no travel restrictions for the game on June 8.
However, Khairy Jamaluddin is still concerned of the safety of the national team players.
“I hope that the diplomatic issues between Malaysia and North Korea have come to an end. I only want what is best for the national team,” Khairy said as quoted by Harian Metro.
“I pray that the game goes well and our Harimau Malaya squad returns home in one peace.”
The tensions between the Malaysian and North Korean governments reached an all-time high when the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was killed at KLIA2 three months ago.
The diplomatic issues caused the fixture to be postponed from March 28 to June 8.
Other posts by Prashant Kharbanda