DOHA (The Thursday Times) — Australia’s football friendly against Jordan next Tuesday has been moved from Amman to Doha over security concerns, after the Socceroos’ players and staff made clear they felt the match should not go ahead in the Jordanian capital.
Football Australia said the Jordan Football Association had accepted its request to relocate the match, which is set for November 17. The Socceroos will stay at their current base in the Qatari capital, and a stadium has yet to be confirmed.
The change was agreed at a meeting in Amman between Football Australia’s chief executive, Martin Kugeler, and the Jordan association’s acting general secretary, Farah Badarneh.
“We are very grateful to the Jordan Football Association for accepting to relocate the match,” Kugeler said. “The dialogue with the JFA has been nothing but open, respectful and collaborative.” He added that the federation looked forward to welcoming Jordan to Australia in the future.
Travel warnings
Reports in Australia this week said most of the squad had been unwilling to travel to Amman. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises Australians to reconsider their need to travel to Jordan “due to the unpredictable security situation” and the “threat of terrorism”.
The United States is also reducing staff at four of its embassies in the Middle East, including in Amman, after receiving intelligence that Iran had stepped up efforts to target American personnel, according to reports.
“It’s great to have the second match of this FIFA international window, against Jordan, confirmed. We were always confident that a positive outcome would be reached,” the Socceroos’ head coach, Tony Popovic, said. “These are crucial games, as we have limited time together, especially now that the AFC Asian Cup has been rescheduled. This will be our last camp for four months.”
Both Asian Cup finalists
Australia first face Qatar, the Asian champions, at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha on Friday, with kick-off at 5.45pm local time. Qatar beat Jordan in the 2023 Asian Cup final, so the Socceroos will meet both finalists in the same city. Tuesday’s match will be the ninth between Australia and Jordan.
Both games were arranged as warm-ups for the Asian Cup, which was due to be played in Saudi Arabia in January. The tournament has since been pushed back to December 2027 because of the conflict in the region.
The Socceroos’ move is the latest in a string of sporting events reshuffled by the war. Formula E this week moved its Jeddah season opener to April, and the United States pulled out of the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar over safety concerns.
