World Cup qualifying: Belgium v Wales unlikely to be in Brussels - Martinez
- Published
Belgium sit top of the Fifa world rankings under Roberto Martinez
Belgium manager Roberto Martinez expects his side to host Wales away from Brussels and without fans in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier.
The teams kick off their campaigns to reach Qatar on Wednesday, 24 March.
A government night-time curfew starting at 22:00 is in place in Brussels in the fight against coronavirus.
"It's quite difficult to see the rules changing from the [Belgian] government," said former Swansea City boss Martinez.
"At the moment there is no public allowed and we don't expect to have public in March."
Wales' game in Belgium kicks off at 20:45 Central European Time (19:45 GMT) and Martinez says the Brussels curfew means the game is likely to be played away from the Belgian capital.
He expects a decision on the venue to be made soon with Leuven, where Belgium beat England in the Nations League in November, the likely destination.
"Obviously there will be another review of the situation which will be in early March, but we expect that it's going to be behind closed doors with similar conditions that we had in November, where we played the games away from Brussels," Martinez told BBC Sport Wales.
"But the warmth of the fans is not going to be there.
"Any kick-off that finishes after 10 o'clock because of the curfew from the government, it cannot be played in Brussels, so it could have to be that we have to play in Leuven.
"But the way we are preparing these games and this event is always having all the cases and scenarios if the government will allow it."
After going to Belgium, Wales are scheduled to host Mexico in a friendly on Saturday, 27 March before facing the Czech Republic at home in their second World Cup 2022 qualifier on Tuesday, 30 March.
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