Iran clubs may withdraw from AFC Champions League

Iran’s Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Esfahan Football Club, commonly known as Sepahan, and Tractor Sazi Tabriz Football Club have hinted at the possibility to quit the 2016 AFC Champions League in case they are disallowed to host matches against their rival Saudi clubs in Iran.

"I hope there will be a resolution, but we are considering to withdraw from the Champions League if they insist on a third place (neutral venue)," Sepahan team manager Rasoul Khorvash told Reuters on Monday.

He added, “We are waiting to see what the AFC decides. All the managers of the clubs had a meeting and this was one of the ideas discussed.”

The 63-year-old said officials at Sepahan, Tractor Sazi and Zob Ahan have already discussed the matter with authorities at Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) as well as the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Khorvash said the Saudi complaint should be dismissed just like the motion from the United Arab Emirates Football Association to move Emirati club fixtures out of Iran.

“They are looking for excuses, whatever politically happened should not get involved with the sport,” he said.

“We do not have any problem to host them. We have been hosting them for many years and never ever anything happened to them, nor any Arab country or any other club in the world or national team coming to Iran,” Sepahan team manager stated.

Tractor Sazi director Majid Abbasi also argued that Saudi Arabia is violating the AFC statutes concerning political interference in the sport.

Article 3 of AFC’s statutes states that discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group of people on account of ethnic origin, gender, language, religion, politics or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.  

Saudi Arabian al-Hilal, al-Nassr and al-Ahli football teams have declared that they will not compete against Iranian clubs in Iran, and want their matches to be staged somewhere else.

The AFC announced last month that AFC Champions League fixtures between Iranian and Saudi football clubs would be played at neutral venues in case Tehran and Riyadh fail to resume diplomatic relations by March 15.

On January 3, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the severing of diplomatic relations with Iran following Tehran's strong condemnation of the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

The Saudi move followed demonstrations held in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad by angry protesters censuring the Al Saud family for the killing of the top cleric as part of a crackdown on Shias mostly residing in the kingdom's Eastern Province. Some people mounted the walls of the consulate in Mashhad while incendiary devices were hurled at the embassy in Tehran. Some 50 people were detained over the transgression. Iranian officials condemned the angry protests.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said at the time that the Saudi bid to sever ties with the Islamic Republic shows Riyadh's belief that the kingdom’s survival hinges on mounting tensions.

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