Team Canada players raised 'concerns' about match with Iran before it was cancelled: Canada Soccer

Players on Canada's men's soccer team raised concerns about a controversial friendly match against Iran — and Canada Soccer confirms that pushback factored into its sudden decision to cancel the event.

"Canada Soccer heard those private concerns and took them into consideration as part of the decision-making process," wrote Canada Soccer in a media statement.

The organization also said it hasn't paid any fees to Iran's team. Iranian officials had told state-affiliated media that Canada Soccer would pay them $400,000 for the exhibition game, which reportedly would have allowed Iran's team to turn a profit off a friendly match for the first time in more than two decades.

Now, the Iranian soccer team says it will pursue damages through FIFA from Canada Soccer for cancelling the game. Iran's deputy minister of sport announced the team is seeking $10 million in penalties.

"[Canada Soccer] simply sent us a letter announcing the termination," spokesperson for Iran's soccer team Mohammad Sabz Ali Jamaat wrote in a rare response to CBC News. "We are not provided with specific details."

The match was called off abruptly Thursday morning in a terse two-line tweet from Canada Soccer.

The organization issued a statement that evening saying it had the best of intentions and organized the match to prepare the men's soccer team for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The "untenable geopolitical situation of hosting Iran became significantly divisive" over the past week, Canada Soccer wrote.

WATCH/ Canada Soccer cancels controversial match against Iran 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative MPs and Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart all objected to the planned match. B'nai Brith Canada, an independent Jewish human