First Sports: AFC favours Iran and Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr over Mohun Bagan, questions of 'bias' arise

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has received strong criticism from a section of fans for making “biased” decisions after Indian football club Mohun Bagan Super Giant were forced to withdraw from the AFC Champions League Two competition following their refusal to travel to Iran to face Tractor SC, amid ongoing political tensions between Iran and Israel.

Mohun Bagan were scheduled to play Tractor SC at Iran’s Tabriz on 2 October. The match had been scheduled around the same time when Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, was killed, and right after Iran’s attack on Israel. Mohun Bagan were concerned about the players’ safety and wanted their game against Tractor SC to be either rescheduled or shifted to a different venue.

AFC decides to move Iran vs Qatar clash

When the AFC did not heed their requests the Indian Super League (ISL) club decided against travelling to Iran and were later penalised by the Asian Football Confederation.

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But not so surprisingly, a few days later, on Friday, the AFC decided to move the Iran vs Qatar FIFA World Cup Qualifier match to Dubai.

The match was supposed to take place in Iran, but the AFC confirmed that the decision to move that match to Dubai was taken after consultations with FIFA and the necessary stakeholders. Ever since Iran launched missiles at Israel early in October, the political tensions between the two countries have escalated.

Read | Mohun Bagan seemingly pay price for football politics as they're booted out of AFC Champions League 2

While the AFC is well aware that Iran isn’t the safest place to host a football match at the moment, the luxury of getting a neutral venue is reserved only for a few teams. The only benefit of the doubt that could work in the AFC’s favour is the fact that the Mohun Bagan-Tractor SC match is a club fixture, and not an international match, which makes it entirely under the control of the AFC. Meanwhile, the Iran vs Qatar match has two teams competing for a FIFA World Cup spot, possibly making FIFA’s influence on the matter higher.

Al-Nassr vs Esteghal match reportedly moved out

However, this belief, if true, may not sit well with the fact that the AFC has reportedly decided to shift another match to a neutral venue, an AFC Champions League match between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi club Al-Nassr and Iranian club Esteghlal.

Al-Nassr had raised concerns about travelling to Iran citing security issues. On this occasion, however, the AFC acted quickly, reportedly writing to Esteghlal to shift the match to a neutral venue.

Mohun Bagan were far from happy with this development. “It does seem odd that Mohun Bagan were treated one way and Al-Nassr-Esteghlal another,” a Mohun Bagan official said.

This goes on to show that when an issue involving a huge football star like Cristiano Ronaldo came up, the AFC was quick to make a decision. On the other hand, Mohun Bagan have appealed to the AFC Appeal Committee against the decision of their forced withdrawal, but the relevant AFC committees are yet to provide a response on this.

There is also the absence of an Indian representation in the AFC’s panel that makes the decisions. However, there is representation from Iran. Mehdi Taj, one of the four vice-presidents of the AFC, is an Iranian.

From an Indian perspective, the AFC’s bias towards Iran could not be clearer. Mohun Bagan’s priority was the safety and well-being of their players, but the AFC prioritised making alternate arrangements for Cristiano Ronaldo and his Al-Nassr club over Mohun Bagan, which is India’s oldest club.