2023-09-04 22:49:26
Yesterday, Monday, the Asian Football Confederation announced that all matches between the national teams and clubs affiliated with the Saudi and Iranian Football Associations will be played on the basis of the home-and-away system instead of the neutral stadium system that began in 2016 and continued until the last edition of the AFC Champions League.
This development came in the wake of the agreement between the Saudi and Iranian federations (Monday), about which the Asian Football Confederation was informed.
Prior to this agreement between the two federations, all matches that brought together the teams of the Saudi and Iranian football federations, whether at the level of the national team or clubs, were held on neutral stadiums, according to the decision issued in 2016 by the Competitions Committee and the Executive Office of the Asian Football Confederation.
The Asian Football Confederation welcomed this historic step, which reflects the commitment of the Saudi and Iranian Football Associations to strengthening relations within the football community in both countries, in a way that allows clubs to host matches on their stadiums, and to visit the stadium of the opposite team in external matches, which increases the level of interaction and experience of enjoyment. For fans and players.
Enthusiastic fans in Saudi Arabia, Iran and across the continent will look forward to witnessing a new chapter in club and national team competitions, with Saudi and Iranian teams competing in a spirit of competition and friendship.
And with the adoption of home and away matches between the clubs of the Saudi and Iranian Football Associations, as of September 19, the AFC affirms its full commitment to providing the highest standards of security and safety for all parties to the game in these matches, while securing the necessary approvals from the relevant committees. .
Al-Nasr Saudi Arabia will be the first club to play a match in Iran when it faces Iranian Persepolis on the 19th of this month in the first round of the group stage competitions of the AFC Champions League, followed by the Saudi Al-Ittihad, which will clash with the Iranian Isipahan on the second of next month, while Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia will meet its counterpart Nasaji Mazandaran in The second round of the group stage of the AFC Champions League, scheduled for the 3rd of the same month.
Al-Qunut TV in Iran had broadcast matches for the Saudi Professional Football League this weekend, in reference to the growing interest in the Saudi League globally, as well as continentally, as well as the continent’s fans’ love for Saudi clubs and their follow-up to the world’s stars who are increasing in the Kingdom’s stadiums.
Saudi clubs such as Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al-Nasr, Al-Shabab, Al-Ahly and Al-Ittifaq played many matches in Tehran and other Iranian cities since the past nineties, before they moved to neutral stadiums about 7 years ago.
According to the Saudi national team’s website, Al-Akhdar has met his Iranian counterpart in 14 international matches since January 7, 1977 in the 1978 World Cup qualifiers, when the Iranian team defeated Al-Akhdar in Riyadh with three clean goals before the Saudi team visited its Iranian counterpart in Shiraz in April 22 of the same year, to lose by a clean double.
Al-Akhdar also met his Iranian counterpart on September 19, 1997, in the capital, Tehran, and tied with a goal. The second leg was renewed in Riyadh on October 24 of the same year, and Al-Akhdar won with the famous Ibrahim Sweid goal.
They met again in Tehran in 2002 in the World Cup qualifiers, and the Iranian team won with two clean goals, then they tied again in Jeddah with two goals each in the same year.
The 2010 World Cup qualifiers witnessed two matches for the two teams, the first in Riyadh and a 1-1 draw before they met again in Tehran.
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