The New Zealand Football Association has canceled a London national team pre-season match against England, MTI reported.
Wembley Stadium (Photo: AFP) |
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The organization’s president, Andrew Bragnell, justified the “difficult decision” by the “unavailability” of members of the framework and travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, says MTI.
Bragnell added that since they are not sure their national team will be able to stand out at Wembley on November 12 as agreed, it would be irresponsible for them to cancel the match at the last minute. Instead, they will focus on next year, when they begin their appearances in the 2022 World Cup regional qualifiers in the spring.
The two countries’ national rugby teams – whose clashes are considered prestigious – could have competed against each other on November 7 as fans of the European standard testing period, but the meeting was canceled earlier.
This fall, due to the pandemic, the four dominant rugby teams from Southern Continent will no longer be coming to Europe and instead replace the postponed tournament in Australia from the summer, MTI recalls.