Under FIFA regulations, all players must present their full passport to the match commissioner to verify their ages for the under-23 competition, The South China Morning Post reported. The Nepalis' fate now lies in the hands of FIFA, who have to rule on whether travel permits can be used to verify players ages.

Nepal were told of the passport problem during a team managers' meeting ahead of Saturday's opening matches. Nepal were to play hosts Hong Kong in one of the two opening fixtures. The Post said although Nepal's players are likelyto be ineligible, their group opponents had agreed to play them anyway.

Australia beat FIFA stars

Sydney: Australia scored three times in the second half to beat the FIFA World Stars 3-2 in an exhibition football match to officially open Sydney's Olympic stadium on Saturday.

In front of 88,101 fans, the biggest crowd to watch a soccer match in Australia, the World Stars led 1-0 after half-time after French goalkeeper Bernard Lama made a string of great saves to keep the Socceroos at bay.