The international soccer governing body FIFA has ruled that the two Koreas’ qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be held in Shanghai on March 26th.

The match was to be held in Pyongyang, but the two sides could not agree on arrangements for the contest as the North refused to let the South display its national flag and play its national anthem. The South’s Korea Football Association (KFA) called for FIFA mediation.

FIFA then proposed a compromise that called for the match to be played in a third country.

KFA will accept the terms since playing the national flag and anthem will be of no issue in China.

KFA Vice President Kim Ho-gon noted the association had wanted a Pyongyang match following the standing rules on the national anthem and the flag.

The soccer governing body’s decision to hold the game in a third country was in consideration of the North’s political situation. Nonetheless, it will serve as a bad precedent.