News / Sports

FFIRI complains to AFC over Saudis’ disrespect in Champions League match

Saturday, 24 February 2018 9:07 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 09 March 2018 2:34 AM ]

Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal footballers (R) ignore minute's silence for victims of a recent Iranian plane crash ahead of the Group D match of the 2018 AFC Champions League with Iranian professional football club Esteghlal Tehran on February 20, 2018.

The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) has lodged a complaint with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) against professional football club Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia over its players’ failure to observe a period of silence for the victims of a recent plane crash in central Iran.

While footballers from Iranian giant Esteghlal lined up on the center circle ahead of the Group D clash at the multi-purpose Seeb Sports Stadium in the northeastern Omani city of Seeb on Tuesday to pay their respects, Al Hilal players did not line up opposite.

The Tehran-based team beat the Saudi side 1-0.

PressTV-All 66 on board killed after plane crashes in central Iran

A passenger plane goes down in central Iran during a flight from Tehran to the southwestern city of Yasuj, killing all passengers and crew.

The Saudis’ disrespect to the memories of victims, and causing upset to their affected families and friends are not strange to football enthusiasts worldwide, as the kingdom’s national football team ignored a minute of silence for victims of the London terror attack before its World Cup qualifier with Australia at the Adelaide Oval on June 8, 2017.

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