Kyrgyzstan scraps Myanmar football match over concerns

By AFP
05 September 2017
Kyrgyzstan scraps Myanmar football match over concerns
(File) Kyrgyzstan's Anton Zemlianukhin (L) vies for the ball with Australia's Nathan Burns during the FIFA World Cup 2018 Group B qualifying football match between Kyrgyzstan and Australia in Bishkek on June 16, 2015. Photo: AFP

Muslim-majority Kyrgyzstan on Monday cancelled an international football match with Myanmar over "a potential terror act", as fears grow for the Southeast Asian country's Rohingya Muslims.
At least 87,000 Muslims have arrived in Bangladesh after fleeing clashes in Myanmar's Rakhine state, according to the UN. 
Social media users in Kyrgyzstan had suggested staging a peaceful protest against the violence in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar ahead of Tuesday's Asian Cup qualifying match.
"The match was cancelled according to the decision of Prime Minister Sapar Isakov and because of the potential threat of a terrorist act," a spokeswoman for Kyrgyzstan's football federation told AFP by telephone.
The head of Kyrgyzstan's football federation Semetei Sultanov said the match may be held in another country. 
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a looming "humanitarian catastrophe" in western Myanmar and urged the country's security forces to show restraint after 400 people -- most of them Rohingya Muslims -- died in communal violence.
© AFP