Tractor in limbo over ACL Elite remainder
Persian Gulf Pro League champion Tractor is awaiting the Asian Football Confederation’s decision regarding the remainder of the two continental club competitions.
All knockout fixtures in the West Zone were called off by the Asian governing body last week, following the U.S.–Israeli airstrikes on Iranian soil.
On the first day of the attacks, February 28, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several top Iranian military commanders were martyred in Tehran.
Iran responded with widespread missile and drone attacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
Tractor was scheduled to take on Emirati club Shabab Al Ahli in Dubai last Monday, in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the AFC Champions League Elite.
Tractor won five and lost one of its eight matches to finish third in the West Zone league table with 17 points.
Recent reports have suggested that Asia’s top-tier club tournament might resume with the two-legged ties in the West on April 4 and 21, though the AFC is reportedly considering a single-leg format for the four West Zone fixtures — all to be played in Saudi Arabia — in the final week of April.
The bigger issue for Tractor, however, is that the team’s domestic matches and training sessions have been suspended, and all foreign players in the squad have left Iran amid the ongoing conflict in the region.