Syria cancels Korea fixture

Syrian national team has not been sent visas Damascus - George Al Shami Syria's national football team has cancelled its friendly fixture against South Korea due to the South Korean Football Association's failure to secure entry visas for the Syrian team on time, senior official Muaffak Fathallah has confirmed. The news comes just days after Syria's FIFA ranking improved by four places to number 134. The match was scheduled for April 22 and part of the Syrian national team's preparations for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches. Fathallah explained that all the necessary data and paperwork had been sent to South Korea, but "after a long wait," visas for only 13 players came through, including Dutch team Roda JC's striker Senharib Malki. Manager Hussam al-Sayed has refused to go ahead with the match because he wanted to use the fixture to test the players playing outside Syria. The Syrian national team is expected to play a replacement match against Iraq in Dubai or Erbil. No date has been set for the fixture and the Iraqi Football Association and FIFA will make their final decision in the next few days. Meanwhile, Syria's national team is showing signs of recovery after jumping four places in FIFA's latest monthly world rankings. The team is now ranked 134th in the world with 222 points. It is also 18th among Asian teams, having moved up two places from the previous rankings.