Afghanistan v Vietnam soccer qualifier scrapped

BANGKOK, Feb 5 (Reuters) The return leg of an Olympic soccer qualifying match between Vietnam and Afghanistan has been cancelled due to security fears in the Afghan capital Kabul, the Asian Football Confederation said today.

The two teams are due to play the first leg of their Asian Olympic preliminary round qualifier in Vietnam on Wednesday.

An AFC official told Reuters there would only be one leg in this preliminary round because of security concerns.

Vietnam coach Alfred Riedl confirmed his team would not travel to Afghanistan.

''The AFC said there was a security problem and we did not need to go there. We heard Bangkok would stage the match but then they decided against it so that is much better for us,'' Riedl told Reuters from Hanoi.

Reuters SAM RN1742