Iranian clubs out in the cold as FA again fails to meet AFC licensing criteria

August 25 – Iranian clubs will continue to be denied entry to the AFC Champions League until the Iranian FA changes its club licensing criteria to be complaint with the regional confederation’s rules.

Three major Iranian teams were barred from competing in the current AFC Champions League due to failure to comply with AFC club licensing.

That ruling prevented 2020 finalist Persepolis, two-time Asian champion Esteghlal, and Gol Gohar Sirjan from taking part in the 2022 competition.

The exact reasons for failing to meet licensing regulations were not detailed but they did include issues around the submission of required documentation meeting deadlines and in the right form.

It had been publicly knowledged that Esteghlal and Persepolis, Iran’s two biggest and most popular clubs, had faced the possibility of disqualification for weeks from the Champions League, but local officials were still unable to get their club licensing in order, and they still aren’t satisfying AFC criteria.

An AFC statement said that its Club Licensing Task Force had “agreed to uphold the suspension of the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran Club Licensing Administration until all defects have been addressed and rectified to the satisfaction of the AFC General Secretariat.”

The AFC’s new club licensing rules came into force on July 29, 2022 and incorporated several important updates that are applicable when granting licences to participating clubs in the AFC club competitions.

Emphasising the imprortance of the new licensing criteria, Task Force chairperson Hamad Mohamed Aljneibi said: “I would like to acknowledge our collective efforts to raise professionalism in Asian club football despite the challenges. Club licensing was introduced in Asia more than a decade ago and it continues to play an integral role in uplifting the standards of our sport on the Continent.

“The AFC’s MAs have received strong support throughout this period of change and I am certain that these latest developments will steer Asian football in the right direction and reaffirm the AFC’s position as a model Confederation.”

While Iran still has work to do before its teams can be readmitted to AFC competition, the Task Force did decide to remove the suspension imposed on the Tajikistan Football Federation’s Club Licensing Administration after they rectified most of the ‘defects’ in their own rules.

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1711710071labto1711710071ofdlr1711710071owedi1711710071sni@n1711710071osloh1711710071cin.l1711710071uap1711710071


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