BUKIT JALIL, Sept 26 — It was supposed to be judgment day for Malaysia in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 championships but the heavens opened up, forcing the match against Japan to be postponed to 11am tomorrow.

"We were ready to start our match but the UM Arena football pitch where the Thailand and Tajikistan match was going on was flooded out,” said Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) general secretary Stuart Ramalingam.

"The AFC decided not to go ahead with the match as both matches need to be played simultaneously. it’s the rules and we have to adhere to it,” he added.

Malaysia are in Group C of the championships which is being hosted in Malaysia for the first time. The semi-finalist of the competition gain automatic qualification to next year’s Fifa Under-17 World Cup.

As these are the finals group matches, they’re scheduled to start simultaneously at 4.30pm.

Malaysia are tied on three points in Group C with Thailand after a win and a loss while Japan top the table with four points from a win and a draw.

Malaysia’s match against Japan today is a do-or-die mission if they want to progress out of the group as Thailand are expected to beat Tajikistan.