Team China heads to UAE for FIFA World Cup qualifiers

SHANGHAI - Chinese men's football team has left for the United Arab Emirates from Shanghai on Thursday for the upcoming three FIFA World Cup qualifiers which have been moved from China to the UAE.

The 58-person Chinese delegation, with 29 players in the squad, is scheduled to arrive in Dubai, UAE at 7 pm local time on Thursday. Then the team will travel directly to Sharjah, where it will face the Philippines, the Maldives and Syria from June 7-15.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced the venues change on Monday as the Maldives and Syria teams couldn't compete on schedule since the two teams need to be under strict quarantine upon their arrival in China according to the pandemic prevention measures.

Since the Chinese football governing body is still responsible for hosting the tournament, a more than 30-staff supporting team including FIFA councilor Du Zhaocai and CFA president Chen Xuyuan has left for the UAE together with Team China, in order to run the matches successfully. Besides, the Guam team and Asian Football Confederation officials are also on the chartered flight.

China has vowed to win all three coming matches with the aim to enter the final round of World Cup Asian qualifiers.