The Middle East conflict has continued to disrupt the soccer calendar, with a Saudi Pro League game being postponed and the Spanish football federation (RFEF) raising concerns to UEFA over the staging of their women’s World Cup qualifier in Turkey.
The SPL confirmed that Thursday’s game between Al Kholood and Al Qadsiah had been rescheduled for 10pm local time on Saturday, due to the latter team’s flight to the city of Qassim being cancelled.
It is the first match in league to be directly affected and it comes after the SPL wrote to its clubs insisting that games would continue despite the conflict. It said that the situation is being monitored day-by-day, security protocols were being followed and that matches would continue.
According to the Saudi Ministry of Defence, the United States embassy in the nation’s capital of Riyadh was the subject of a drone attack by Iran earlier this week.
Other games in the Middle East have already been disrupted. The Asian Football Confederation confirmed that multiple Champions League and Champions League 2 matches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and in Doha, Qatar had been postponed or rescheduled.
The Qatar Football Association also said on Sunday that all matches in the country had been postponed “until further notice”.
The Spain squad had been due to travel to Turkey on Thursday but the RFEF has delayed travel plans while it assesses the situation.
RFEF sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, indicated the governing body has expressed concern to the Spanish government and UEFA over the appropriateness of Saturday’s fixture against Ukraine taking place in Turkey and have appealed for it to be reviewed.
The game is scheduled to take place at Mardan Sports Complex in Antalya, around 500 miles from the Syrian border and 808 miles from the Iraq border. England played Ukraine at the same venue in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday — the Football Association had remained in contact with the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding the team’s travel and security.
The U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on major Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran, on Saturday after weeks of mounting diplomatic tension. Iran has retaliated with its own missile attacks on Israel and U.S. air bases in the Gulf region, including in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.
Flights have been affected in the region, with Israel, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan all closing their airspace.
