The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially informed FFIRI that it (AFC) could not send VAR equipment to Tehran due to US sanctions.

According to ISNA, part of the letter from the AFC reads: “We would like to inform you that according to the STP recommendation which is under contract with AFC, due to severe international sanctions and various challenges regarding the import of equipment required for the Islamic Republic, the Asian Football Confederation can not send VAR system for matches. We wish the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran success in preparing for the next match, and we look forward to your cooperation and understanding in this regard.”

It should be noted that in previous correspondence from FIFA and the AFC, it was announced that if the stadiums are not equipped with a video referee assistance system VAR, the two organizations will try to support the federations in question. This is despite the fact that many competitions under the auspices of these two international organizations are still held without VAR.

Earlier, Hassan KamraniFar, the acting secretary-general of the Football Federation, had stated that the only remaining problem in hosting the FIFA World Cup qualifiers was the issue of broadcasting rights, and expressed hope that this issue would be resolved with the cooperation of authorities and IRIB. However, in the context that the issue of video referee assistance VAR, it is not considered as a requirement for holding FIFA competition matches at this stage.