AFC Champions League game between Al Ittihad and Sepahan to be replayed

The AFC Champions League match between Sepahan and Al Ittihad that was cancelled on Monday will be replayed at a later date, the Iranian Foreign Minister has said.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that he was in contact with his Saudi counterparts to make arrangements to replay the fixture.

The Group C match at the Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan was called off after Ittihad reportedly refused to enter the pitch because a bust of the late Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qassem Suleimani was on display at the entrance.

"Our relationship with the kingdom is moving in the right direction. I agreed with the Saudi Foreign Minister not to allow sport to be a political tool," the ISNA news agency reported Mr Abdollahian as saying.

#امیرعبداللهیان: نظر ما و #عربستان تکرار بازی #سپاهان و #الاتحاد است

*اتفاقی که برای بازی سپاهان و الاتحاد افتاد، در همان زمان من با وزیرخارجه سعودی در تماس بودم

*روابط ریاض و تهران در مسیر درست خودش پیش می‌رود؛ ورزش نباید اهرم سیاسی در طرف هیچ کدام شود pic.twitter.com/7F6OO6kKIK

Mr Abdollahian did not elaborate on when the fixture would take place. The next round of AFC Champions League group games is slated for October 23 and 24. Sepahan are set to face AMGK away while Ittihad host Al Quwa Al Jawiya.

Iraq's Al Quwa sit top of the group with four points from two games ahead of Ittihad on three points from their one fixture. Sepahan are third on one point with AMGK of Uzbekistan bottom.

Neither the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sport nor Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) have commented on the possibility of a replay taking place.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the continent’s governing body, said that Monday's match had been “cancelled due to unanticipated and unforeseen