Sports events banned due to Iranian "Tractor" team's visit to Saudi Arabia

On February 28, about a month after US and Israeli attacks on Iran, the Iranian Ministry of Sports and Youth issued a statement.

Idman.Biz reports with reference to the ISNA news agency that the Iranian Ministry of Sports and Youth has announced "the participation of national and club teams in countries considered hostile, which cannot guarantee the safety of Iranian athletes and team members, is prohibited until further notice."

The reason for the ban was the news about the "Tractor" team's match against the Emirates team in Saudi Arabia in the Asian Champions League (ACL). The ministry said that the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) and clubs are obliged to inform the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to change the venue of the games.

This step was taken a few months before the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada in June. Iran, which qualified for the World Cup, is scheduled to play its group stage matches against "New Zealand", "Belgium" and "Egypt" in the USA.

In another high-profile incident this month, six female Iranian national team footballers and one official sought asylum from Australia after refusing to sing the national anthem during the Asian Cup (AC). This incident caused Tehran to call them "traitors". Although five of them later changed their minds and returned to Iran, two remained in Australia.