Japan players celebrate after defeating Australia in their World Cup 2022 group B qualifying soccer match at Saitama Stadium in Saitama, on Oct. 12, 2021. (Mainichi/Yuki Miyatake)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Japanese government is set to allow China and Saudi Arabia's men's soccer teams to enter the country for their 2022 World Cup final Asian qualifying matches through early February, a source close to the matter said Friday.

       While the government is banning new entries by nonresident foreign nationals to Japan to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the matches were deemed special cases given their public interest and urgency, the source said.

       The Japan Football Association said later in the day the two matches will go ahead as scheduled. Second-place Japan will host China on Jan. 27 and Group B leaders Saudi Arabia on Feb. 1, both at Saitama Stadium.

       The government judged the games warranted an exception to its border control rules due to the difficulty in rescheduling the fixtures and potential problems in completing the qualification round.

       The source said the visiting teams would be allowed entry to Japan provided they adhere to restrictions on their activities and virus-prevention measures.

       Their players, as well as Japanese players playing overseas, will be allowed to train during the self-quarantine period, it said.

       The JFA, however, said Japan's scheduled friendly match with Uzbekistan on Jan. 21, also at Saitama Stadium, has been called off after the visitors were denied entry.

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