After much deliberation by the Tournament Committee, the Asean Football Fedeartion (AFF) has confirmed Phuket's Surakul Stadium and Bangkok's Supachalasai Stadium as the venues for the final matches of Group B to be played simultaneously on Wednesday, 10th December 2008.
As such, the revision to the Official Match Schedule for Group B (10 Dec 208) are as follows:
Match No 11: Vietnam vs Laos, 1930hrs, Surakul Stadium, Phuket
Match No 12: Thailand vs Malaysia, 1930hrs, Supachalasai Stadium, Bangkok
Whilst every effort was made to play both matches in Phuket utilizing Sapahin Staium, unfortunately there was not enough time for organizers to arrange the necessary upgrade of the venue's floodlights.
Although the decision to keep Vietnam and Laos in Phuket for the final match was taken solely for logistically reasons, it is also being viewed as a positive step to return to the Thai capital, which was the intended venue for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008.
Plans are subsequently in place to fly both the Thai and Malaysian teams up to Bangkok on the morning of 9 Dec 2008, thereby minimising any disruption to their preparations for their final group match on 10 Dec 2008.
