"Qasem Soleimani" crisis in Iran-Saud match: Match canceled

According to Iranian state television, Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad team did not show up for their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League group match against Iran's Sepahan team at the Naqsh-i Jahan Stadium in Isfahan at 19:30 local time.

The Saudi team arrived at the stadium and trained, but then refused to take the field, objecting to the placement of a bust of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US attack in 2020, in the stadium's exit tunnel, and the match was canceled by the referee.

"The Asian Champions League match between Sepahan and Al Ittihad, scheduled to be held at Isfahan's Naqsh-i Jahan Stadium, has been canceled due to unexpected and unforeseen circumstances," the AFC's X social media account said.

Iranian football club Sepahan announced that it will file a complaint to the AFC for the cancellation of the match.

Iran's former Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US attack in Baghdad in January 2020.