Football chiefs have agreed to postpone the Thai Premier League's matches on the weekend of Aug 22-23 to allow the national side to prepare for a crucial World Cup qualifier.
Kiatisak Senamuang.
Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and Thai Premier League (TPL) bosses yesterday met with national coach Kiatisak Senamuang to consider his request for the 22nd round of TPL matches to be postponed.
They agreed to move the matches to Oct 3 to allow the national side to have more time to get ready for their home match against Iraq on Sept 8.
"We have to focus on our attempt to beat Iraq,'' said Kiatisak. "The postponement will allow us to have 20 days to prepare for the match."
Thailand will play a warm-up match against the Philippines on Sept 3, although Kiatisak said he preferred a Middle East side.
"We wanted to play a Middle East team but playing against the Philippines will not be too bad because they have big and tall players."
Thailand are in Group F of Asia's qualifying round for the 2018 World Cup.
The Thais have won their first two games against Vietnam and Taiwan. Iraq have not yet started their campaign after Indonesia, who were originally in the group, were suspended by Fifa.
The eight group winners and four best third-place teams advance to Asia's final qualifying round for the 2018 World Cup.