Iran Football Wins Case against Saudi Arabia at CAS

Iran has won a case against Saudi Arabia in the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after seriously pursuing the matter for quite some time, according to a Farsi report by Varzesh3 news website.

Iran’s Football Federation filed a lawsuit against its Saudi counterpart a year ago for the Arab federation’s refusal to allow its footballers to come to Iran. Representatives and lawyers from both countries held meetings at the CAS for almost a year amid a political tug of war between Tehran and Riyadh. Finally, it was announced that Iran had won the case against Saudi Arabia.

In the last session of the CAS, Saudi Arabia was convicted and sentenced to paying damages and all costs caused by its wrong decision. The costs include the expenses of Iranian representatives’ trips to third countries as well as fines.

With this verdict, we should now wait and see which side will host matches between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the next AFC Champions League season. Iran has announced it has no problem sending its players to Saudi Arabia. The court ruling can make Saudi Arabia host games after several years.

What is interesting is that the CAS, based on its rules, has not allowed the Iranian Football Federation to announce the news on the ruling to media. Anyway, Iran’s winning the case is good news and a success for the Islamic Republic. We should also wait and see how the Asian Football Confederation will react to the news.