Football Association of Maldives (FAM) had previously announced that the WCQ match cannot be played in Malé due to the National Stadium’s turf being damaged by the tarp protector covering it during the Independence 50 events. FAM announced on Wednesday that the match scheduled to be held on 8 September will be held in China, and the next year’s match on 24 March, which was previously scheduled to be a China home match, will be held in Maldives instead. Had China not conceded to the compromise, next month’s match would have been played in a neutral stadium such as in Sri Lanka, Dubai or Qatar as a Maldives home match. However, FAM general secretary Bassam Adeel Jaleel said despite efforts to host China in next year's match, FAM failed as China had already sold television rights. "China also tried to change the venue for that match. But it can't happen as all the rights have already been sold," Bassam said. He also explained that Maldives is unable to bear the cost of playing the match in a neutral venue. China has agreed to bear the cost of hosting Maldives in both matches, he added. Meanwhile, current group leaders Hong Kong has been incensed by the move as group favourites China will get "double" home advantage in its matches against the Maldives. "It would be acceptable if the match was held in a neutral place as it is still an away game for China," goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai was quoted by the Hong Kong media. "But now China can start both matches against Maldives at home without any disadvantage of playing away. This is absolutely not fair." Defender Chan Wai-ho said Qatar could only manage a stoppage time goal to beat Maldives 1-0 in Male in June and China would probably face the same difficult situation. "We are expecting China to lose a point against Maldives in the away match, but now this is unlikely to happen. It will definitely affect Hong Kong and other teams," said the Hong Kong captain.