A second round of Asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been postponed due to the new coronavirus epidemic.

Following a meeting with the Asian Football Confederation(AFC) at its Zurich headquarters on Thursday, FIFA said the decision was made as the well-being and health of all individuals involved in football matches remains the highest priority.

The second set of Asian World Cup qualifiers was previously scheduled to begin in late March. South Korea were expected to face off against Turkmenistan on March 26 and against Sri Lanka on March 31.

It remains uncertain whether its matches against North Korea and Lebanon in June will take place as scheduled.

FIFA said it will provide an update in the coming days following consultation with AFC member associations and monitoring of the coronavirus situation in cooperation with the World Health Organization(WHO).