AFC’s decision on Iran-Saudi football matches ‘pressured by Riyadh’: Official

PressTV – TEHRAN, A recent decision by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for representatives of Iran and Saudi Arabia to play in a third country is “politically-motivated,” says the spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

“Available evidence shows that the refusal of Saudi teams to play in Iran and the decision made by the AFC are politically motivated under the pressure from the Saudi government and the football federation of the kingdom,” Maziar Nazemi said in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Saturday.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) recently asked the AFC that matches between the countries’ teams take place in a third country.

In making the request, the SAFF has claimed that the matches could be affected by potential insecurity in the Islamic Republic’s sports venues.

The AFC officially announced its decision on March 16.

The football associations of Saudi Arabia and Iran have been given until March 25 to “provide comprehensive details of the proposed neutral venues,” the AFC said in a statement.

“Iran is a secure enough country for the games of the AFC Champions League,” Nazemi said, adding that teams from the United Arab Emirates were hosted for football games in Iran in the current season, and that FIFA, the international governing body of football, has declared Iran a safe place for matches of football teams from countries such as Syria and Iraq. Some of those matches, the Iranian official said, have been played in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad.

Emphasizing that Iran’s security has been verified by FIFA and the AFC, Nazemi stated that Saudi football clubs and the government in Riyadh in particular, have pressured the kingdom’s football federation to ask for the matches against Iranian teams to be played in a third country, or as put by AFC’s statement, “neutral venues.”

The move by the AFC came against the backdrop of tensions between Tehran and Riyadh.

The Saudi regime executed 47 people, including prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, on January 2.

The move prompted international outcry and drew harsh criticism from several governments and rights groups.

Following the execution of the senior Shia cleric, angry protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad, triggering a decision by Riyadh to cut diplomatic relations with Iran.