Sepahan appealing to CAS after AFC hands 3-0 loss
Persian Gulf Pro League club Sepahan said it will lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after being handed a 3-0 loss against Saudi side Al Ittihad by the Asian Football Confederation.
Thursday’s ruling came after Sepahan’s home game against Al Ittihad in Group C of the AFC Champions League had been called off minutes before the kickoff on October 3.
The Iranian top-flight side was also fined $200,000 by the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee, while being banned from playing its next three home fixtures in the AFC competitions in Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium.
According the committee’s verdict, Sepahan “persisted in displaying a military and/or political statue in the area surrounding the field of play, and religious, military and/or political banner(s) in the stadium” which led to the cancelation of the match because of “an unsafe and unstable security environment within the stadium.”
Sepahan “did not act in a politically neutral manner, and caused reputational damage to the AFC, the AFC Champions League competition and the Asian football generally,” the committee’s statement read, adding the Iranian club “failed to comply with and implement existing safety rules,” as required in the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code, while its acts “provoked the general public during the match.”
Al Ittihad players refused to take to the pitch against Sepahan and flew back to Saudi Arabia right after departing the Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium, with the club writing on X later that they were 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 venue.”
In a statement on Oct. 2, the Asian football governing body said the match was cancelled “due to unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances,” adding: “The AFC reiterates its commitment towards ensuring the safety and security of the players, match officials, spectators, and all stakeholders involved.”
Several sources, including the Iranian Fars and Tasnim new agencies, reported that the decision to cancel the game was made because of 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.
The result leaves Sepahan third in the group at the Asian elite clubs’ competition – equal on four points with second-placed Iraqi side Air Force Club and five adrift of Al Ittihad.
Back-to-back home fixtures will see Sepahan play Uzbekistan’s AGMK FC and Air Force Club – likely at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium – on Monday and November 27 respectively, before a final-day away game against Al Ittihad on December 4.
The five group winners in the West Zone of the competition will be joined by the best three runners-up in the round of 16, starting February next year.