Iran accuses AFC of bias over football ban

TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday accused Asian football’s governing body of bias for a mooted ban on it hosting club matches, after a spate of security incidents including the downing of an airliner.

“It appears that the decision of your Competitions Committee was influenced by foreign media hostile” towards Iran, Sports Minister Masoud Soltanifar told the head of the Asian Football Confederation, according to the ministry’s news agency.

“Iran is a safe and powerful country... We have no problems regarding the security of aviation,” he was quoted as saying in the call with AFC chief Salman Bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa.

The minister said that in addition he would “personally guarantee the security of visiting football teams”.

The row comes as tensions soar between the West and Iran following the killing of top commander Qasem Soleimani in a US air strike in Baghdad on January 3.

Iran retaliated five days later by launching a wave of missiles at US troops stationed in neighbouring Iraq.

It had still been on high alert hours later when its armed forces mistakenly shot down a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 soon after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.

The four football teams representing Iran in the AFC Champions League — Esteghlal, Persepolis, Sepahan and Shahr Khodro — have all threatened to pull out if the ban is confirmed.

But a non-Iranian source close to the issue told AFP the ban “is not an official decision yet”.

The final decision was expected “in the coming hours”, the source added.