Referring to the AFC decision which says Iranian teams should host their rivals in 2020 ACL in a neutral venue, Rahimi said that this decision is wrong, unacceptable and false.
“According to the world's security standards, the atmosphere of the country and the competition venues in Tehran are safe,” he added.
“We support the correct stances of clubs and the Football Federation to defend Iran’s rights,” he said, adding, “The enemies are trying to show the country is not secure.”
Following AFC’s decision, four teams that represent Iran in this year’s AFC Champions League announced that they will participate in the event only if they can host their rivals in Iran.
AFC’s Executive Committee has not issued the final ruling on the case yet but the initial decision has sparked harsh criticism towards AFC for mingling politics into sports. Meanwhile, the four Iranian teams have announced that they will participate in the event only if they can host their opponents in Iran.
The AFC's controversial decision is likely due to the unintentional downing of a Ukrainian airliner on Jan 8 by Iranian air defense which claimed the lives of all 176 passengers and crews on board.
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