Australia and Myanmar’s AFC Cup match has been rescheduled to a neutral location in Thailand after Canberra declined to issue visas to the visiting team, Football Australia announced on Monday.
Shan United was supposed to play Macarthur, an Australian team, in Sydney on Thursday as part of the regional club competition for the second tier.
However, after authorities denied visas to the visiting Myanmar team, Football Australia said that there was “no viable way of playing the game on Australian soil”.
It further stated that the game “has been moved to BG Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand”.
The Australian Home Affairs department did not immediately reply to demands for comment, and Football Australia did not provide an explanation for the visas’ denial.
Human rights organisations have expressed alarm in the past over supposed connections between Shan United and the military regime in Myanmar.
In October, the Macarthur team faced criticism for travelling against official government recommendations to play in Myanmar.