Tiger selayed due to tsunami<\/p>\n
Agencies, Tokyo<\/p>\n
The second leg of a Tiger Cup semifinal has been postponed
\nafter the weekend's deadly Asian tsunami, Southeast Asian soccer
\nofficials said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Malaysia and Indonesia, both hit by the devastating tidal
\nwaves that swept the Indian Ocean on Sunday, were scheduled to
\nmeet in Kuala Lumpur on New Year's Day.<\/p>\n
However, the match will now be played 48 hours later, on
\nMonday, as a mark of respect for the victims following a plea
\nfrom Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.<\/p>\n
The tsunami, triggered by a huge underwater earthquake off
\nIndonesia, killed more than 87,000 people and the death toll is
\nexpected to rise further.<\/p>\n
Over half the victims were in Indonesia and more than 60
\npeople lost their lives in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"In response to the Prime Minister's call to cancel all
\ncelebrations, (we) have decided to postpone the second leg,\" said
\nASEAN Football Federation (AFF) president Ahmad Rithaudeen.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian Prime Minister said it would be inappropriate to
\nplay the match and called for people to pray for the victims of
\nthe disaster.<\/p>\n
\"This is not the time to be happy as tens of thousands of
\npeople in northern Malaysia are grieving,\" he said. \"We've never
\nhad a disaster like this in our country.\"<\/p>\n
Malaysia leads Indonesia 2-1 after the first leg, which took
\nplace in Jakarta on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The second leg of the other semifinal between Singapore and
\nMyanmar will be played as scheduled on Sunday. Singapore leads
\nthe tie 4-3.<\/p>\n
A proportion of gate receipts from that game, which takes
\nplace at the 55,000-seat National Stadium in Singapore, will be
\ngiven to the tsunami disaster fund.<\/p>\n
\"As the Tiger Cup is an ASEAN tournament, it is appropriate
\nthat we extend a helping hand to the tsunami victims,\" Singapore
\nsoccer chief Ho Peng-kee said.<\/p>\n
\"Football can help bring people together, even in times of
\ntragedy like this.\"<\/p>\n
In Wellington, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board said on Wednesday
\nit was canceling its national team's tour of New Zealand after
\nthe tsunami disaster.<\/p>\n
\"Taking into consideration the tsunami disaster Sri Lanka
\nfaces, Sri Lanka Cricket decided to cancel the ongoing tour of
\nNew Zealand,\" the board said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The decision was taken after the board made a request to New
\nZealand Cricket.<\/p>\n
\"The New Zealand Cricket Inc., and Sri Lanka Cricket agreed to
\nreschedule the tour at some appropriate time in the future,\" the
\nstatement said.<\/p>\n
The tour had initially been rescheduled to allow five days of
\nmourning after the tsunamis but NZC chief executive Martin
\nSnedden said it had since become obvious the situation in Sri
\nLanka was worse than originally feared.<\/p>",
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