Iranian Football Clubs to Withdraw from AFC Champions League

Four Iranian football clubs have vowed to withdraw from the AFC Champions League if the AFC does not take back its "politically-motivated" decision to ban them from hosting their rivals in Iran.

A meeting was held on Saturday between the Iranian Sports Ministry and the presidents of the four football clubs – Persepolis, Esteqlal, Sepahan, and Shahr-Khodro – at the Iranian Football Federation.

At the end of the talks, the Iranian clubs announced they will withdraw from the AFC Champions League if the confederation still insists on its decision until Sunday noon.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) sent a letter to Iran’s national football federation saying they will not be hosting international matches in the country following the recent tensions.
The Iranian federation rejected the notion that the country is unfit to host matches in a responding letter to the AFC.

“Iran is fully ready to host various teams as it has repeatedly proven during the past several years,” Amirmahdi Alavi, a spokesman for the Iranian federation, said.

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