AFC ‘moves’ to resolve WC row

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19, (RTRS): The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have stepped in to resolve a row that led to Guam threatening to cancel their World Cup qualifier in Iran after complaints from the US territory that Tehran had delayed visa applications.

Guam said they started the visa process “months ago” for the Sept 3 fixture but were still waiting on an authorisation code from the Iranian Football Federation so that the required documents could be completed for their players. The AFC told Reuters on Wednesday they had received a letter from the Guam Football Association on the matter but expected all to be resolved by Friday after speaking with both parties.

“The AFC understand that the Iran Football Federation is currently preparing the visas to be addressed to a third country by Aug 21, 2015, which has been communicated to the Guam FA by the Iran Football Federation,” the statement said.

The US and Iran have been archadversaries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and neither have embassies in each other’s country. The AFC would not say where the visas would be sent.

Guam head coach and technical director Gary White told Four Four Two Magazine on Tuesday he was outraged by the behaviour towards his team, with the report adding the team were contemplating asking for the fixture to be cancelled.