Iran: Clubs back down on Asian champions League boycott
Last updated on .From the section Football
Four Iranian clubs have decided against boycotting the Asian Champions League after their games were moved out of the country for security reasons.
The General Managers of Perspolis, Sepahan, Shahr Khodro and Esteghlal backed down after meeting the General Secretary of the Asian Football Confederation on Thursday.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) initially voted to stage matches involving Iranian teams on neutral territory amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.
But in Iran's parliament, MPs rejected the decision, prompting the clubs to threaten a boycott.
Iran's Minister of Sport and Youth Masoud Soltanifar said the decision was based on misinformation provided by western media.
He also said that the rejection of the AFC's decision came from the highest political level, alluding to the office of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
The AFC then suggested a compromise, whereby Saturday's preliminaries are played on neutral soil and the group fixtures involving Iranian clubs are switched so that the first three are played away, leaving time for the situation to settle in Iran and opening the possibility of games being played there again.
After three days, and with time running out, the clubs eventually agreed.
United Arab Emirates club Sharjah withdrew from the Asian Champions League in 2009 and were banned from the next season's tournament and fined £240,000 plus compensation for the other teams in their group.
In this case, any withdrawal may also have a knock-on impact on the decision of whether Iran can host its World Cup qualifier against Hong Kong in late March.
