New Zealand Call Off England Friendly Due To Coronavirus Restrictions
New Zealand have pulled out of an international friendly with England at Wembley stadium next month due to complications arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
The All Whites were due to face the Three Lions on November 12 but travel restrictions and player availability issues have seen them pull out of the friendly.
England were supposed to use the game as a preparatory match for their UEFA Nations League fixture away at Belgium three days later but will now name a new opponent to replace New Zealand.
New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell said: "It is not an action taken lightly, this is a match we all wanted to play, however, as it stands of the last All Whites squad selected for the November 2019 tour, even excluding the New Zealand based players, a significant number of the team would be subject to quarantine or restrictions on their return home.
"This would heavily disrupt their domestic seasons and potentially jeopardise their professional careers.
"The shifting nature of travel restrictions and commercial flight availability under Covid means that we do not have certainty we could assemble a squad at Wembley on this day and defaulting on this fixture at the last minute is not an option."
"Prior to COVID we had a full calendar of fixtures planned for the All Whites, and we have been proactive in seeking out matches for the team since the disruption, but unfortunately it just isn't possible to make the new games we have scheduled this year happen.
"We are now looking forward to the March 2021 international window as we begin our qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2022."
