Club Licensing Storm: Persepolis and Sepahan Out of the Asian Champions League

The Club Licensing Storm in Iran

Turmoil in the Iranian football world following the announcement by Zarei, head of the professional licensing committee, that the powerhouse club Persepolis "will certainly not be Iran's representative in the next season of the Asian League." The decision was also confirmed by the IRNA News Agency and published on Khorasan Online.

The decision, which also affects the Sepahan team that has already been disqualified from the competition, sparked sharp criticism among Esteghlal fans. In the Esteghlal fan channel, it was claimed that "Persepolis would not have achieved the ticket to Asia regardless of the decision" and that the club tried to "create a false pretense of discrimination." The channel, which is clearly identified with the Esteghlal fanbase, went further and claimed that the real discrimination was against Esteghlal, which was denied the opportunity to fight for the cup title and the treble.

Additionally, it was reported that the Iranian State Cup will not be held officially, and the decision regarding the allocation of quotas for the Asian tournaments will be based on the current ranking of the league, which has been frozen. The committee noted that it is currently examining mechanisms to resolve the dispute over an additional match between the teams Gol Gohar and Chadormalu, which affected the final standings.