Al Ittihad football match against Sepahan cancelled in Iran

An Asian Champions League football match between Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad and Iran’s Sepahan has been "cancelled", according to continental football authorities.

“The AFC Champions League 2023/24 Group C match between Sepahan FC and Al Ittihad FC, which was scheduled to take place at the Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium in Isfahan tonight, has been cancelled due to unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances,” read a statement from the Asian Football Confederation.

“The AFC reiterates its commitment towards ensuring the safety and security of the players, match officials, spectators, and all stakeholders involved.”

Unnamed officials said thematch was called off after Al Ittihad refused to play in the stadium, where a statue of the late Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Qassem Suleimani has been installed.

"The club administrators found a bust of Qassem Suleimani in the walkway to the pitch," an Al Ittihad official told AFP, saying the bust's presence "is totally irrelevant."

"We asked them to remove it before going to the pre-game warm up and they didn't remove it. The team went back to the lockers."

Footage circulating on social media showed images of Al Ittihad training in the stadium in close proximity to the statue. It is unclear when those images were taken.

Social media footage also showed Sepahan supporters throwing items in the direction of the statue on Monday evening and chanting "we don't want to politicise football".

Today, after #IRGC exhibited a statue of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of its Quds Force at Naqshe Jahan stadium of #Isfahan during #Iran's Sepahan vs Saudi Al Ittihad football match, Iranian football spectators got angry and threw water bottles at the statue. Also the…