Singapore has agreed to get the National Stadium ready for the 2018 Fifa World Cup Qualifier between Thailand and Australia if the former nation is not able to host the Asian Group B tie at home.
Following the demise of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the Southeast Asian nation has begun an year of mourning, in which all entertainment activities have to be mellowed down for a period of 30 days. Domestic sports, including the country's top-flight football league Thai Premier League, has been halted.
The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) also discussed with Fifa and had written to Football Federation of Australia (FFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) seeking a shift in the venue of their World Cup qualification tie against Australia, which was scheduled to be held in Bangkok on 15 November.
Singapore Sports Hub has now confirmed it has been approached for hosting the tie by the FAT, which has already started considering travel and logistics issues behind making the move.
"We are honoured to be considered and happy to host the match at the National Stadium," senior director of corporate communications and stakeholder management, Chin Sai Ho was quoted as saying by The Straits Times.
"They have indicated their interest in the National Stadium in Singapore as a possible venue for the match and are considering various factors including travel and logistics."
Notably, the National Stadium will be hosting a Masters Football Asia match between England and Germany legends three days ahead of Thailand's scheduled tie. However, Singapore had assured to get the stadium ready for the World Cup clash.
Meanwhile, the Thai government had announced that "restriction of entertainment will be restricted only to concerts." The FAT, thus is likely to have a meeting on Monday to discuss hosting football matches, according to the report.
Thailand will reportedly carry on with their 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup campaign, which begins with a clash against co-hosts Philippines on 19 November. The War Elephants are drawn in Group A, which also has Singapore and Indonesia.
