The second leg of Pakistan’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Yemen was postponed and will now be played at a neutral venue, FIFA announced on Monday.

The development comes a day after deadly suicide bombings hit two churches in Lahore, the host city for the match.

The qualifier was scheduled to be played on Tuesday but uncertainty intensified after the visitors were forced to cancel their training session on Sunday night due to security concerns in the provincial capital after the bombings on Sunday.

The fixture will now be held at a neutral venue, to be disclosed later, FIFA announced after Yemen refused to play the game despite the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) agreeing to play the match without spectators.

Earlier, the PFF had agreed to the match commissioner's demand of playing the match behind closed doors to allay the security concerns of the visiting team.

Yemen did hold their official training session at the Punjab Stadium on Monday but their doctor Mohammed al-Khumesi told Dawn that his team were “worried and disturbed.”

“We’re worried due to the uncertainty,” he said.

“The players are upset and afraid and I don’t think they are mentally ready to play the game tomorrow.”

He added that Yemen were unwilling to go ahead with the game considering they had held just one training session.

“One training session isn’t enough,” he said with Yemen holding a 3-1 lead from the first leg in Doha last week.

“Our players might be lacking in fitness.”

Meanwhile, the President of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Faisal Saleh Hayat, said the development was "unfortunate for the game in the country" and left it to FIFA to decide the future course of action.

“Its all in FIFA's hands. Its a very difficult time for Pakistan football because we get these events after such long gaps. It will be very unfortunate if this chance goes away.”