Football Federation Australia confirmed that the Olyroos' Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympics will be played at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford, and Ausgrid Stadium, Newcastle, on Sunday 19 June and Thursday 23 June respectively.

The circumstances that led to this decision being made by FIFA began on 30 March when the draw was conducted at AFC House.

When it was learned that Australia's U-23 side was to face Yemen in the two-legged fixture, FFA received advice from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that it was not advisable to travel to Yemen due to the exceptional security concerns currently associated with travel to that country.

Due to this advice, FFA made an offer to the Yemen FA for FFA to host both matches in Australia, which the Yemen FA agreed to. This mutual agreement was then subsequently ratified by FIFA.

Olyroos head coach Aurelio Vidmar was very pleased that a satisfactory resolution had been made in regard to the scheduling of these important matches.

"Obviously we are really happy with this outcome in light of the current situation in Yemen," said Vidmar.

"It was always our preference to play both matches in Australia to avoid unnecessary travel where possible.

"FFA has done a tremendous job in negotiating this outcome and we thank Yemen for agreeing to this offer."

In addition, Vidmar has also announced his 21-player squad that will be involved in these two matches.

Led by Central Coast local Oliver Bozanic, 17 members of the squad recently toured Japan to play a friendly match against the Japanese U-23 National Team in Niigata.

Scottish-based midfielder Aaron Mooy is an addition to the squad along with Young Socceroos Mustafa Amini, Kofi Danning and goalkeeper Mark Birighitti.

Vidmar believes that the squad that he has selected will be able to get the result need to progress to the next stage of the competition.

"I was really pleased with elements of our recent trip to Japan, but there are still parts to work on," he said.

"Aaron Mooy comes into the squad to help bolster our midfield, Mark Birighitti was a late inclusion for Alex Cisak who got injured recently and Musti and Kofi were added to give us a couple of extra creative and attacking options.

“We will have a good week in camp with a training match against Singapore I believe that we will be ready for Yemen."

The Olyroos need to win these two matches on aggregate to progress to the next round of qualification which sees the 12 winners from Round 2 divided into three groups of four teams each.

The teams in each group will then play in a home-and-away format from 21 September 2011, to 14 March 14, 2012, with the winner of each group directly qualifying for the London 2012 Olympic Games Football competition.

The three second-placed teams from the third round will clash in a play-off at a centralised venue from 25 to 29 March, 2012, and the winner of this group will meet the representatives of CAF (Africa) for a berth in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Olyroos will assemble in camp on Friday 10 June and will play a behind closed doors training match against Singapore on Sunday 12 June in the lead up to the two matches against Yemen.

Ticketing details for the Preliminary Round 2 - 2012 London Olympic Games Asian Qualification Matches between the Olyroos and Yemen will be announced shortly.

Olyroos squad:

Mustafa Amini - Central Coast Mariners
Aziz Behich - Melbourne Heart
Mark Birighitti (gk) - Adelaide United
Dean Bouzanis (gk) - uncontracted
Oliver Bozanic - Central Coast Mariners
Isaka Cernak - Melbourne Victory
Kofi Danning - uncontracted
Diogo Ferreira - Melbourne Victory
Matthew Foschini - Melbourne Victory
Jason Hoffman - Melbourne Heart
Marko Jesic - Newcastle Jets
Matthew Jurman - Brisbane Roar
Ryan McGowan - Hearts FC, Scotland
Tahj Minniecon - Gold Coast United
Aaron Mooy - St Mirren, Scotland
Scott Neville - Perth Glory
Mitch Nichols - Brisbane Roar
Mirjan Pavlovic - Wellington Phoenix
Andrew Redmayne (gk) - Brisbane Roar
Sebastian Ryall - Sydney FC
Rocco Visconte - Brisbane Roar


Football Federation Australia