Japan's first of two Paris Olympic women's football qualifying games against North Korea will take place in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, the Japan Football Association said Wednesday.
Nadeshiko Japan traveled to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a day after being instructed by the Asian Football Confederation to prepare to play Saturday in Jeddah, where four Europe-based players also joined the squad after flying in from London.
The JFA had appealed to have Saturday's match, a home game for North Korea, switched from Pyongyang, citing the scarcity of flights between Japan and North Korea's capital, delays in working with the hosts and a lack of match-operations transparency.
North Korean team went through departure formalities in Beijing on Wednesday en route to the Middle East, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
The winners of the two-legged fixture will earn one of Asia's two berths in this summer's Paris Olympic tournament.
Japan will host their home leg on Feb. 28 at Tokyo's National Stadium.
