On Monday, Al-Ittihad’s Asian Champions League match against Sepahan of Iran was canceled because the Saudi team would not leave the changing room in protest.
The Saudi team objected to the placement of a statue of the murdered Iranian general Qasem Soleimani at the pitch’s entrance. In January 2020, a drone strike by the United States killed him close to the airport in Baghdad.
At the moment, there were about 60,000 spectators waiting for kickoff in the Naghsh-e Jahn Stadium in Isfahan, Iran.
Due to security concerns, matches between Saudi Arabian and Iranian clubs have previously been played on neutral grounds since 2016 due to tensions between the two countries.
