AFC Upholding Esteqlal Ban

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 26 (AFC).The AFC Executive Committee has dismissed the reinstatement appeal of Esteqlal Tehran of Iran who was disqualified from participating in the 2007 edition of the AFC Champions League two weeks ago. Esteqlal Tehran put in an appeal last Monday but the AFC Executive Committee turned it down after a thorough review and extensive deliberations on the matter. The Iran Pro League defending champions were disqualified from the AFC Champions League on February 16 for failing to submit their preliminary player registration forms by the February 11, 2007, deadline. AFC disqualified the club after invoking Article 30 (F) (i) of the competition regulations which states that: Each club entering the competition shall send to the AFC Secretariat a squad list of no more than thirty (30) players for the Competition by 11 February, 2007. Any Club that does not submit their registration by the registration deadline shall be automatically disqualified from the Competition. In this situation, the team will be deemed to have lost all their matches. The dismissal of Esteqlal's appeal means there will be only three teams - Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan), Kuwait Sports Club (Kuwait) and Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia); in Group B while Sepahan, who have been drawn in Group D with Al Ain (UAE), Al Ittihad (Syria) and Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia), carry Iran's hopes in the continental showpiece as the sole representatives.

Source : Keyhan Newspaper