Libya to play World Cup qualifier in Tunisia

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Libya to play World Cup qualifier in Tunisia

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FIFA said Friday the Group I game will be held behind closed doors on June 10.

21 April,2012 11:02 am

Libya s World Cup qualifier against Cameroon in June will be played in the neutral Tunisian city of Sfax and no fans will be allowed to attend. It will be Libya s second match in World Cup qualifying after the team opens its campaign with an away game in Togo a week earlier. Football was thrown into disarray in Libya following the civil war that erupted in early 2011 and led to the killing of leader Moammar Gadhafi. Libya had to play home qualifiers for this year s African Cup of Nations in Mali and Egypt but overcame chaos and upheaval back home to unexpectedly qualify for the continental championship in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in January and February. Libya didn t get past the group stage at the African Cup but still impressed by drawing with eventual champion Zambia and beating a powerful Senegal. The Libyans last played an international at home in late 2010. Tunisian football also has been troubled following the revolution in that country, with all league games now played without fans because of worries of violence in the stands. FIFA will soon decide if Iraq is safe enough to host 2014 World Cup qualifiers this year. The country has been barred from hosting internationals since last September because of security concerns and after a stadium power outage in the Kurdish city of Irbil during a qualifier against Jordan.Iraq hasn t had an international game in Baghdad since 2009, with Irbil likely to host any matches.Also, Myanmar was reinstated to the 2018 World Cup qualification tournament after FIFA partially accepted its appeal against disqualification for crowd violence. However, FIFA said Myanmar must play all of its home matches in a neutral country.