Kuala Lumpur : Teams from Saudi Arabia and Iran must find neutral venues to play each other in the AFC Champions League because of diplomatic problems between the two countries, football chiefs said Wednesday.
Matches between Saudi and Iranian clubs were rescheduled for the end of the group stage in the hope that relations would improve after a flare-up following Riyadh's execution of a Shiite cleric in January.
But with the group stage now at halfway, no improvement is apparent.
Saudi Arabia severed all links with Tehran after violent mobs attacked its diplomatic missions inIran over the cleric's death.
"It is most unfortunate for the AFC to learn that at the time of writing, the Saudi Arabian government has yet to lift the travel restrictions on their nationals, which prohibit travel to IR Iran," the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) wrote in a letter to the two countries' football bodies.
"Furthermore, there has been no significant development in the relationship between the two countries concerned," the AFC added.
Iran's Sepahan, Zobahan and Tractorsazi Tabriz, who will play Saudi teams Al Ittihad, Al Nassr and Al Hilal respectively, were asked to give details of the neutral venues by March 25.
Iranian football federation president Ali Kafashian said Wednesday they would appeal AFC's decision, alleging that it came after "pressure from the Saudi Arabian government".
"I will definitely lodge my official complaint ... as this is a political decision," said Kafashian, currently in Zurich for a FIFA meeting, whose remarks were published on the Iran Football Federation website.
