AFC punishes Saudi club over fan’s mischief against Iran team
A Saudi club has been penalized by the Asian soccer governing body for its supporters' misconduct during a match an Iranian team.
The Asian Football Confederation on Friday fined and issued a warning to Al Ittihad, the AFC said on its Twitter account.
The punishment relates to a game against Iran’s Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Esfahan Football Club, commonly known as Sepahan.
The Saudi club was fined 20,000 US dollars "because of what its fans had done to Sepahan," the AFC said but did not give further details.
Ittihad was also ordered to pay an additional 1,500 US dollars "for the tardiness of its team in entering the field," AFC said.
The AFC warned the Saudi club that in case of a similar incident in the future, it would have to play a home match without the presence of its fans.
The soccer federation did not elaborate on the time of the misconduct. Ittihad and Sepahan met in April in the Asian Champions League where the Saudi side defeated the Iranian outfit 4-0.
The incident between the Iranian and Saudi clubs coincided with ongoing political conflicts between the two countries.
Tensions between Tehran and Riyadh intensified after the kingdom's execution of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr in January.
Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic relations and halted flights to and from Iran on January 3 following attacks on vacant Saudi diplomatic premises in the Iranian capital Tehran and the city of Mashhad by angry people protesting Nimr's execution.
This came as more than 2,400 foreign pilgrims, including 464 Iranians, were killed after two large masses of pilgrims converged at a crossroads in Mina, near the holy Saudi city of Mecca, during the symbolic ceremony of the stoning of Satan in Jamarat on September 24, 2015.
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