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.

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The Asian Football Confederation, AFC, has reportedly banned Iran from hosting Champions League football matches, so Iranian clubs have decided to quit the tournament.

A series of reports have suggested the AFC sent a letter to the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) telling them that they would not be hosting AFC Champions League matches for the foreseeable future.

Instead, any match featuring an Iranian team would be played in a different country.

In a meeting held on Saturday in the presence of the Iranian Sports Ministry and the presidents of the four football clubs – Persepolis, Sepahan, Shahr Khodro and Esteghlal in Iran Football Federation’s headquarters, the decision was made by them to withdraw from the competition if the confederation wants them to play in neutral venue.

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