Iran announces stance on Saudi football officials' claims

TEHRAN, Feb. 08 (MNA) – Iranian football and state officials have emphasized that Iran must host Saudi teams for the 2016 AFC Champions League. The meeting of Iranian football and foreign ministry authorities was held to decide on the country’s stance on the claims made by Saudi football officials. The session was attended by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports of Iran Mahmoud Goudarzi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Countries Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sport Nasrollah Sajjadi, President of the Iranian Football Federation Ali Kafashian, President of Iran Football League Organization Mehdi Taj, Ali Reza Asadi General Secretary of the Iranian Football Federation as well as the representatives of the present Iranian teams at the 2016 AFC Champions League. “It was agreed that the matches will be held in Iran due to the high level of security and we would never withdraw from the tournament,” Mehdi Taj said after the meeting. “Even for holding local matches between prominent teams like Esteghlal or Perspolis a security level is defined and the highest possible level of security will be considered for AFC Champions events to alleviate all concerns of Saudi Arabia and other countries,” he added. “Not holding the matches in Iran will bring about adverse economic consequences,” underlined the official. “It was arranged during the meeting that the competitions will be held in the best possible way in cooperation with the security agencies, police cooperation as well as football officials,” noted Taj. The official concluded “we hold a special technical vision on Iranian representatives at the AFC Champions League providing them with all necessary support.” Following the weeks-long diplomatic dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia, AFC Competitions Committee has decided to amend the schedule for the 2016 AFC Champions League. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation and United Arab Emirates Football Association had asked for the switch of any national and club games to assure the safety and security of the teams and accompanying delegations. The Iranian Football Federation (IRIFF) in turn said that its expectation from the Asian Football Conference (AFC) was to disallow political interference in football and reiterated that Iran was one of the safest countries in the region.