سه شنبه Twenty-four 1 بهمن1398 24 شماره 6402 روزنامهی ورزشی صبح ایران صاحب امتیاز: خبرگزاری جمهوری اسالمی ایران مدیرمسئول: علی عالی تلفن: 14 ــ 88504113 نمابر: 84711173 سازمان آگهیها: 1877ــ 88501300 ــ88746583 انتشارات: 5 و 88548892 امور مشترکین: 88748800 ــ 88521954 نشانی: تهران، خیابان خرمشهر، شماره 208 / صندوق پستی 5388-15875 چاپ: ایرانیان [email protected] Iranian clubs to AFC: We only Deputy FM: AFC Decision on play at home Iran is Politically Iranian clubs in the AFC Champions League(Pers- Tasnim - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs epolis and Esteghlal Tehran, Shahrkhodro Mashad, Sepahan Seyed Abbas Araqchi deplored as politically-motivated a re- Esfahan) announced in response to a new letter from the cent decision by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to AFC Secretary-General that “we will only play our matches at ban Iranian teams from hosting their AFC Champions League home”. matches at home. Following a new letter from the AFC Secretary-General regard- In remarks on Sunday night, Araqchi described the move by ing the hosting of Iranian teams in the new season of the AFC AFC as “unfair” and said the Saudis tried to misuse the oppor- Champions League, a meeting was held on Monday with Fed- tunity given the recent deaths of innocent people in Iran. eration officials and chief executives of Persepolis, Sepahan, They (Saudis) wanted to link the killing of the people to their Esteqlal and Shahr Khodro clubs at the federation. own political objectives and deprive Iranian teams of their At the meeting, a letter from the clubs was prepared in re- right so that they can win the competition, which is aimed at sponse to a new letter from the Secretary-General of the AFC, international friendship, the diplomat added. which reads as follows: The cancellation of Iranian clubs’ hosting of matches in Asia 1- Iranian clubs, by reasoning that there is no legitimate rea- Champions League was a politically-motivated move and son to deprive them of their hosting rights, declare that they Saudi Arabia should be opposed for “this unfair abuse”, he will not transfer their hosting outside the Islamic Republic of Persepolis Keeper Radosevic stressed. Iran. Hits Out at AFC’s Decision The Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) 2- All Iranian clubs participating in the competition announced has said it would stand up to the “illegal” decision by the AFC that they will only participate in the event that the Confedera- Tasnim - Persepolis’ Croatian goalkeeper Bozidar Radosevic criticized to ban the country from hosting any international matches on tion formally declares that these clubs host their rivals within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for banning Iranian teams from Iranian soil. the territory of the Islamic Republic. hosting their matches at home at the AFC Champions League. “I am here Federation chief Heidar Baharvand said the federation and 3- If the Confederation accepts the above terms, the Iranian in Iran for many years and I have to say the country is a safe country. I managers of the four teams playing in the AFC Champions clubs will only accept a change of schedule within the calen- think the AFC has made the wrong decision to ban the Iranian teams League held an extraordinary meeting on Saturday and decid- dar. from hosting the home matches,” Radosevic said. “I hope that AFC will ed unanimously to reject the decision. 4- Managers of Iranian clubs are requesting to meet as soon reverse its decision because the Iranian people are very hospitable and The federation on Friday said it had received a letter from the as possible with the President and Secretary-General of the I feel good here. The Iranian people are so lovely and I like to retire from AFC saying all matches involving Iranian clubs would be held AFC. football in the country,” he added. at a neutral venue. Iranian Teams Withdrawal Preview: Chelsea vs. Arsenal Who is next head coach of Will Damage the Lampard wants win Iran national team? Competition’s Reputation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) sent a letter to Iran’s football fed- Both Chelsea and Arsenal will be looking to bounce back from dis- Irna - While multiple media reports on Monday suggested that Ali eration saying the Iranian teams would not be hosting AFC Champions appointing results when the London rivals lock horns at Stamford Daei would be announced as the new head coach of Iran national League matches for security reasons, a move that would be damaging Bridge in the Premier League on Tuesday night. football team in few hours, Daei said in the evening that he was not to the AFC Champions League’s reputation, Steve Price wrote in Forbes. The Blues remain fourth in the Premier League table but suffered a informed about the appointment. The AFC has reportedly banned Iran from hosting international matches 1-0 loss at Newcastle United on Saturday, while Arsenal were held to After the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) parted based on safety fears over the current tensions in the region. Iranian club a 1-1 draw by Sheffield United at the Emirates Stadium. ways with Marc Wilmots, several coaches were shortlisted to take sides have responded by planning to withdraw from the AFC Asian Cham- Chelsea have lost eight of their 23 Premier League matches during charge of Team Melli, however the federation has not appointed the pions League. The clubs have said Iran is “safe”, while Iranian media and the 2019-20 campaign but are still fourth in the table, five points new head coach so far. Ex-Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic was fans have said politics, rather than security, is behind the AFC’s decision, clear of fifth-placed Manchester United on the same number of among the candidates but the Croat was named as Oman head he wrote. Iran are one of the top nations in the Asian Champions League, matches. The Red Devils had the chance to close the gap on Sunday coach on Sunday. Amir Ghalenoei is also a nominee to take charge and have some of the best supported clubs in Asia. Iranian clubs had a but suffered a 2-0 defeat to runaway leaders Liverpool. of Team Melli but he is under contract with Sepahan football club. poor campaign last year, but the year before that, Persepolis reached It was always going to be a testing season for the Blues when con- Yahya Golmohammadi had been also shortlisted to replace Wilmots the final of the competition. They, along with Esteghlal, Sepahan and sidering Frank Lampard’s inexperience at this level, in addition to the but he was appointed as Persepolis coach last week. Shahr Khodro, will withdraw from the competition should the AFC’s fix- fact that they were unable to make signings over the summer due Now, the media reports suggest that the federation has reached an ture ban not be reversed. The absence of Iranian clubs in the competition to a transfer ban. As expected, a young team has struggled to find agreement with Daei. In his first stint in Team Melli in 2008, the Ira- would be similar to Italian clubs deciding to boycott the UEFA Champions consistency this season, but a record of 12 wins from 23 matches is nian team managed the weakest World Cup Qualification results in League. Few other Asian countries can match Iran’s top clubs in terms of relatively strong under the circumstances, and they are in charge of their history with only one win out of five matches. fans. The Asian Champions League is struggling to grow, with low attend- their own destiny when it comes to securing another top-four finish Iran will have four must-win matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifi- ances and regular scandals or other embarrassments, so having one of in England’s top flight. cation in late March and early June. its most important member boycott the competition is the last thing the There is no question that Lampard would have been disappointed Team Melli will entertain Hong Kong on March 26 in Tehran and will AFC needs. But as well as damaging Asia’s main club competition, the with the defeat at Newcastle, but they had entered the clash at St meet Cambodia five days later in an away match. current tensions could also damage the United Arab Emirates’ and Qa- James’ Park off the back of three wins in their last four matches in Iran will face Bahrain and Iraq on June 4 and 9 in Tehran. tar’s attempts to bolster their sporting credentials. it seems the current all competitions. Team Melli, who are going to continue their quest for a sixth World tensions in the Middle East have finally caught up with Dubai, Abu Dhabi The Blues will follow Tuesday’s clash with an FA Cup fourth-round Cup appearance, sit five points behind leaders Iraq in Group C but and Doha, as other soccer teams are staying away. The USA men’s soc- clash against Hull City on Saturday before opening the month of Feb- having played one game fewer. The eight group winners and four best cer team cancelled its camp in Doha earlier this month due to the “devel- ruary with a trip to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City. runners-up will advance to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Finals and oping situation in the region”, holding it in Florida instead. And last week Lampard’s side will then face Manchester United and Tottenham the final round of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.