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Indian soccer team refuses to travel to Iran for game because of security fears

publish time

02/10/2024

publish time

02/10/2024

Players celebrate their dominant win over Al Shorta.

KOLKATA, India (AP) - India’s Mohun Bagan Super Giants have refused to travel to Iran to play Tractor SC in an Asian Champions League Two match scheduled for Wednesday because of the escalating security problems in the country and region.

The Kolkata club asked the Asian Football Confederation to reschedule the match, which was due to take place in the northwestern city of Tabriz. The teams play in the continent’s second-tier competition. The organization released a statement on Tuesday that said: "The matter will be referred to the relevant AFC Committees with further updates to be communicated in due course.”

In the top-tier Asian Champions League Elite, four-time champion Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia made it two victories from two with a 5-0 win over Al-Shorta of Iraq. Marcos Leonardo, signed from Benfica as cover for the injured Neymar, opened the scoring after 11 minutes.

Aleksandar Mitrovic made it 2-0 four minutes later. Salem Al-Dawsari, Nasser Al-Dawsari, and Mohamed Kanno each scored in the second half. Elsewhere, Qatar’s Al-Gharafa of Qatar defeated Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates 4-2. The 24 teams in the revamped tournament are divided into two groups of 12 - one based in the west and one in the east - with the top eight from each progressing to the round of 16.