Political protests in Yemen forces switch of 2012 Olympics qualifier to neutral Abu Dhabi

By The Associated Press

ZURICH- Mar 9, 2011- Yemen's twice-delayed 2012 Olympics football qualifier against Singapore will now be played in the United Arab Emirates.

FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation chose Al Ain in the Abu Dhabi emirate as a neutral venue after deciding Yemen's capital Sana'a was unsafe due to the ongoing political protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The AFC says the two-leg tie will be played as a doubleheader on March 19 and 21 at Khalifa Stadium.

Yemen was scheduled to host the first leg on Feb. 23. The game was postponed for one week to see if Sana'a became safer.

Singapore forfeited its right to host a match so that Yemen did not lose any home advantage.