Sepahan, Al Ittihad set for rescheduled encounter: Report
The AFC Champions League fixture between Persian Gulf Pro League club Sepahan and Saudi side Al Ittihad will be rescheduled for a new date, the Arabic edition of the Goal website reported.
The Group C game in Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium was called off right before the kickoff on October 2 after the Saudi Pro League giant reportedly refused to take to the pitch for unknown reasons.
In a statement later in the day, the Asian Football Confederation said the match was canceled for “unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances”, adding: “This matter will now be referred to the relevant committees.”
Goal added Sepahan could be fined by the AFC and the club will have to name a new home venue for the contest.
Al Ittihad wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, last week that the club was informed by the AFC’s organizing official that “the game would not take place on the scheduled date and the team is allowed to leave the stadium.”
Several sources, including the Iranian Fars and Tasnim new agencies, reported that the players of the Saudi side did not leave the dressing room due to a bust of Iranian Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a US drone strike near the Baghdad airport in January 2020, being placed at the entrance to the pitch.
“Everything was in place for a proper game of football but Al Ittihad came up with demands that were not sport-related at all,” Sepahan CEO Mohammadreza Saket said afterwards.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said last Wednesday that the two countries have agreed on a second date for the encounter, while calling on the Asian football governing body to “act on a technical basis when deciding on the situation.”
Sepahan, third in the group with a point, will play away to Uzbekistan’s AGMK on October 23, with Al Ittihad hosting Iraq’s Air Force Club.