Ghalenoui: Why should we play outside Iran?

Amir Ghalenoui criticized the dual approach to the issue of hosting Iran and other countries.

According to Sport Seh, the continuation of holding the Asian Games in Saudi Arabia despite the recent security concerns, made the issue of the difference in decision-making about hosting this country and Iran one of the main points of Amir Ghalenoui's speech. In response to a question about this issue, the head coach of the Iranian team left it to the federation officials to explain the details, but protested against what he called "dual behavior".

A recent example of the conditions of Iranian representatives is the meeting between Tractor and Shamal, which was held on the 20th of Mehr in Muscat. In this match from the Asian Elite League, Javad Nkonam's students hosted a Qatari opponent instead of Tabriz at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Oman and reached a goalless draw.

On the same day, Al-Nasr played against Naftchi Uzbekistan in Riyadh and won 3-1. According to Reuters, the match started about an hour late following a security alert from the Saudi Civil Defense Organization, but ended up being held in the same city. The warning was issued about fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time of the match.

Concerns about the conditions in Saudi Arabia are not limited to club competitions and Sheikh Salman, the president of the Asian Football Confederation, has also raised the possibility of postponing the Nations Cup for one year. Of course, he emphasized that an immediate decision in this regard is not necessary and for now the preparation program for the tournament continues.

Regarding the issue of hosting and the conditions of Saudi Arabia, Qalanoui said: "The officials of the federation should answer this question, but I am only talking about one issue, which is the duality of their behavior towards Iran and other countries."

He continued: "Why should our representatives go to other countries and play when the country is really safe?" "I am only saying this and the rest of the issues should be said by the federation officials."