Football Association of Malaysia president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim is not in favour of the Malaysian football team having to face North Korea in Pyongyang for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying match next month.

In a statement, Tunku Ismail, who is also the Johor Crown Prince, said the safety of national players and officials were his priority, and called for the match venue to be switched to a neutral ground.

He said the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) decision to fix Pyongyang as the match venue could have stemmed from the Malaysian government only issuing a travel advisory to North Korea, and not a travel ban, despite the ongoing "diplomatic row" between the two countries, triggered by the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at KLIA2 on Feb 13...