Iran’s football chief says “important” MoU to be signed with Saudi Arabia

TheStar.com.my – TEHRAN, A senior Iranian sports official said the country’s football federation will sign an “important” memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its Saudi Arabian counterpart.

President of Iran’s Football Federation Mehdi Taj made the remarks at a ceremony in Tehran on Thursday, according to a statement published on the federation’s website on Friday.

He noted that Iran and Saudi Arabia are two major football powers in Asia and such cooperation can have “considerable” benefits for both sides, without elaborating further on the MoU.

Taj said Iran has also signed an MoU with Iraq, under which their football teams can hold more training camps in the two countries.

On April 6, Iran and Saudi Arabia officially announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with immediate effect.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 in response to the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite cleric.

Ever since the severance of the relations, matches between the two countries’ teams have been held in a neutral country.