The conflict in the Middle East puts the normal conduct of the Asian Champions League at risk. THE‘Al Nassr of Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo intends to ask the Asian Football Confederation to move to neutral territory the match that should be played on 22 October in Tehran, the capital of Iran, againstEsteghlal. The reason, precisely, is linked to the recent Iranian attack on Israel and there is concern about a possible counterattack.
“We are monitoring the situation and will work in the next few days to move the match to a neutral venue”he told Al Riyadiya a source from inside Al Nassr. The person in question, whose identity is not revealed, however specified that the official request to move the match has not yet been made: “We have not yet presented an official request to the Asian Confederation to move the long-awaited continental clash”. But evidently it is a step that will be done as soon as possible.
In 2016 the Asian Confederation decided that the matches between Saudi and Iranian clubs would be played on neutral territory, a measure that remained active until the last edition of the Champions League, when the Saudis and Iranians were again able to play in their stadiums. At that time, Saudi Arabian teams chose Qatar to play their matches, while Iranian clubs opted for Muscat, the capital of Oman, and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, as the venues for their matches.