AFC Executive Committee upholds Esteghlal Tehran disqualification

AFC - The AFC Executive Committee has dismissed the reinstatement appeal of Esteghlal Tehran of Iran who were disqualified from participating in the 2007 edition of the AFC Champions League two weeks ago.

Esteghlal Tehran put in an appeal last Monday but the AFC Executive Committee turned it down today after a thorough review.

The Iran Pro League defending champions were expelled 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 by a score of 3–0."

The dismissal of Esteghlal’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.