TEHRAN (Iran News) – In an official response letter to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday, four Iranian clubs said they will participate at this year’s AFC Champions League only if they’re guaranteed to play their home fixtures in Iran.
On Friday, Iran Football Federation said it has received a letter from the AFC which read that its Competitions Committee has decided to strip the Iranian sides of playing on home soil.
Earlier on Monday, the Asian football governing body confirmed that two Iranian sides, Esteghlal and Shahr Khodro, should play their preliminary fixtures in Doha, Qatar, on January 25.
Esteghlal was initially scheduled to take on Kuwait SC at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium today, with Shahr Khodro also set to host Bahraini side Al Riffa.
The AFC has also decided that the Iranian representatives in the group stage play all their away games in the first three matchdays of the competition before a final decision is made regarding Iranians’ match-hosting in March – before Matchday 4 gets underway.
Persepolis and Sepahan have already secured spots in Group C and Group D, respectively.
The AFC also in response, said the Iranian and Saudi Arabian clubs will still have to take on each other in neutral venues, due to political tensions between the two countries.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
