By Canadian Press

Canada calls off upcoming men’s and women’s international soccer matches

Mar 13, 2020 | 9:44 AM

TORONTO — Canada Soccer has called off international friendlies against Trinidad & Tobago and Australia in March and April due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Canadian men were slated to host Trinidad on March 27 and 31 in Langford, B.C. The women were to face Australia on April 14 in Vancouver. Canada Soccer said the decision to cancel the matches made in the “best interest of the safety of players, coaches, officials, staff and fans.”

The announcement came after CONCACAF suspended all of its soccer competitions scheduled over the next 30 days. The CONCACAF council decided the future of its upcoming competitions via conference call Thursday.

Competitions affected include:

—  The CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico, which Canada was slated to take part in.

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— The first round of the CONCACAF 2021 Gold Cup Qualifiers, due to be played in the March 2020 FIFA international window.

— The CONCACAF Caribbean Club Shield.

The March internationals were important for the Canadian men, who are in search of valuable FIFA ranking points in a bid to secure the most direct route of World Cup qualifying in the region.

The men are currently ranked seventh in CONCACAF (and 73rd in the world) behind No. 6 El Salvador (No. 69 in the world). With 1,346 points, El Salvador is 14 ahead of Canada.

Canada coach John Herdman had said two wins over No. 105 Trinidad could net his team 7.5 to eight points. It now appears Canada is running out of matches and time to catch El Salvador.

The top six CONCACAF teams after the June international window make the so-called Hex qualifying round, which will send three teams from the region to Qatar 2022.

Failure to make the Hex means a more convoluted qualifying schedule for teams ranked seventh through 35th in the confederation. The last team standing will meet the fourth-place Hex finisher to determine who represents CONCACAF in an intercontinental playoff for a berth in the World Cup.

CONCACAF, which covers North and Central America and the Caribbean, had already made the decision to suspend Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League play.

CONCACAF said the decision was made “with the welfare of everyone involved in mind, and in light of developing travel restrictions and public health guidance.”

It said it was considering options on “how and when to reconvene these competitions.”

CONCACAF is the only confederation not to have already qualified its teams for the Tokyo Olympic men’s soccer competition. Fourteen other countries are already in the field.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press