#englishnews #saudiiran #asianchampionsleague <br /><br />News Article :-<br />A football match between Saudi and Iranian teams in the Asian Champions League has been called off due to the presence of a statue of former Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani at the entrance of the field.<br /><br />A clash scheduled for Monday between Saudi’s Al Ittihad and Iran’s Sepahan was postponed after the Saudi team refused to leave the dressing room at the Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium in the Iranian city of Isfahan.<br /><br />“The AFC reiterates its commitment towards ensuring the safety and security of the players, match officials, spectators, and all stakeholders involved,” the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a statement. “This matter will now be referred to the relevant committees.”<br />Soleimani – who commanded the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its specialised Quds Force – played a central role in directing Iran’s activities across the Middle East for several decades before being assassinated by a US air strike in January 2020.<br /><br />Sometimes known as the “shadow commander”, he guided Iranian efforts to influence events across the region, overseeing activities in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. He is viewed as a hero by the Iranian government, but seen as a key architect of Iranian policy by the Saudis.<br /><br />Photographs on social media showed a bust of Soleimani placed at the entrance of the football pitch, prominently displayed before players who would have exited the tunnel onto the field.<br /><br />While Iran and Saudi Arabia have made efforts to ease tensions in recent months, relations remain highly strained.<br /><br />The dispute comes one month after Saudi Arabia and Iran announced a “groundbreaking” deal to resume home-and-away football matches between club sides after seven years of competing in neutral venues.<br /><br />That agreement was the latest sign of rapprochement stemming from a surprise China-brokered deal announced in March that saw the longtime rivals agree to restore diplomatic relations and reopen their respective embassies following a seven-year rupture.<br /><br />Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi club Al Nassr played a match in Tehran on September 19, the first time a Saudi club had played in Iran since 2016.<br /><br />Previous matches between clubs from Iran and Saudi Arabia had been played in neutral territories due to concerns over security.
