Iranian clubs decide against boycott of Asian Champions League

To optimise for archiving, the original image and related documents associated with this article have been removed.

Iranian football teams have decided against boycotting the Asian Champions League after their games were moved from Iran to the United Arab Emirates over security concerns.

Two games were originally scheduled for this week but were postponed due to security concerns after several countries issued warnings against traveling to Iran, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) then announced that the games were being relocated to the UAE with a statement saying “to help facilitate the switch to neutral venues, which has been approved by the relevant AFC committees, the AFC will now reschedule the games to January 25, 2020 in the United Arab Emirates.”

Iran’s parliament did not agree with this decision and said the decision had come from misinformation provided by western media and that the call for Iranian clubs to boycott the competition had come from the highest political office. The AFC sought to avoid a boycott so provided the clubs with the following proposal: the rescheduled matches remain in the UAE and the first three group stage matches for Iranian clubs are played away in the hope that by the time the three home games are set to be played, the tensions in Iran will have settled.

The four Iranian clubs, being Perspolis, Sepahan, Shahr Khodro and Esteghlal FC were threatening to boycott the competition all together but eventually backed down and agreed to the AFC proposal after a meeting held between the clubs and the General Secretary of the AFC.

You may also like

View All

High Court permits Wimbledon site extension despite protests

39 new courts will be added to the Wimbledon site despite protests against the expansion

Read More

Chinese swimmers top anti-doping tests as World Championships begin in Singapore

Chinese swimmers have undergone more anti-doping tests this year than swimmers from any other country ahead of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore this month, according to a report by the Aquatics Integrity Unit

Read More

The Open to employ Spidercam on 18th green at Portrush

For the first time in golf history, The Open will utilise Spidercam technology, and it will be used on the 18th green at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland

Read More