AFC Drops Rush to Ban Iran in Saudi Arabia

The Asian Football Confederation has drawn criticism for its contradictory stance on Riyadh's insecurity and Tehran's security.

The Asian Football Confederation showed contradictory behavior about Riyadh's insecurity and Tehran's security to be criticized.

According to ambassador Arjan; "We are not in a hurry to postpone the Asian Nations Cup", these are the statements of Sheikh Salman, the president of the Asian Football Confederation, about the insecurity situation in Saudi Arabia.

The missile attacks of the Yemeni army have made Saudi Arabia the most insecure country on the Persian Gulf, according to the Australian Sports website.

Concerns about the security of the 2027 Asian Cup of Nations have peaked since last week after 12 people were killed and more than 300 were injured in a retaliatory attack by the Yemeni army on Riyadh's King Khalid Airport.

Asian federations such as Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Uzbekistan wrote to the AFC and raised their concerns about the insecurity of hosting the Asian Nations Cup, so that the one-year postponement plan due to insecurity will be reviewed.

The most sensitive match of the week in the Saudi Premier League, the match between Al-Nasr and Al-Ahly, which was scheduled to be held today, was canceled due to insecurity, and the World Tennis Championships hosted by Riyadh were also canceled yesterday.

But now Sheikh Salman, after a week of silence, says that he is in no rush to postpone the Nations Cup and wants to review the situation by November.

The Japan Times website writes that the country's football federation wants to withdraw from the Asian Nations Cup due to insecurity in Saudi Arabia.

The AFC's delay in postponing or canceling the hosting of Saudi Arabia, while this organization immediately canceled the hosting of Iranian representatives in Asia as soon as the US attacked Iran, and even after several months have passed since the last attack of the US on Tehran, Iranian teams still do not have the right to host and must play in a third country.

Saudi football legend Sami Jaber says AFC made the best decision because the security situation in Riyadh is not permanent and could end soon.

But Jonathan Ruiz, an Australian football expert, believes that the AFC has prioritized its financial interests in Saudi Arabia over the lives of footballers, and the immediate postponement of matches is the least expected action from this body.

Reuters believes that the short-term solution for the AFC is to quickly announce the one-year postponement of the Asian Nations Cup and remove the 24 participating teams from uncertainty, or cancel the hosting of Saudi Arabia and hold these competitions in another country if insecurity continues.